Companies are very good about making sure dangerous chemicals stay where they are supposed to and do not leak out into the environment, so Americans do not really have to worry about chemical exposure. Or do they?

Lake Charles residents might be surprised to learn just how real a concern chemical exposure still is. Yes, we have rules and laws in place that are meant to keep the public safe from toxic substances, but it is just a fact that accidents happen (and, sadly, that companies that use dangerous chemicals are not always as responsible and as careful as they should be.)

Recently, Marathon Petroleum was fined $700,000 for failing to properly manage its plant in a suburb of the Twin Cities. According to Minnesota's environmental protection agency, Marathon allowed benzene to leak into the environment between June and October of 2010. Benzene is a known carcinogen, so Marathon's lack of care put countless people at risk.

Supposedly, Marathon did not properly dispose of 115 million gallons of wastewater, even though it knew the wastewater contained benzene. Although Marathon no longer owns the plant, it did own it when the violation of environmental laws occurred. A spokeswoman for Marathon said a plant-wide power failure was to blame, but it is reasonable to expect a big plant like this would and should have backup measures in place.

This did not occur anywhere near Louisiana, of course, but it still should show that incidents like this can happen. They are a real risk in our area, given how many refineries and plants we have in our region.

Source: The Pioneer Press, "Marathon Petroleum fined $700,000 by Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for benzene release in St. Paul Park," Dennis Lein, Jan. 20, 2012