Grist: "The Hidden Cost of Gasoline." The signature sweet smell of gasoline is benzene, an infamous carcinogen, strongly linked to acute myeloid leukemia [AML]. Leaks from underground tanks + piping contain lead, benzene, and the suspected carcinogen methyl tertiary-butyl ether. 'Ten gallons of gasoline can contaminate 12 million gallons of groundwater — a significant risk, given that groundwater is the source of drinking water for nearly half of all Americans.' Some 60,000 contaminated sites under gas stations await cleanup, according to the EPA. "One of the largest spills was in Brooklyn, where a 17 million-gallon pool of oil gradually collected beneath a Mobil gas station — a larger spill than the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989." The actual number of gas stations has been in decine for decades, dut to mediocre profits, rising land values + more fuel-efficient cars. "A 2019 analysis from Boston Consulting Group found that between 25 and 80 percent of gas stations nationwide could be unprofitable in 12 years — and that analysis was conducted before a slate of new policies, including federal tax credits, were passed to promote electric vehicles." The menace of leaking gas stations went public in 1983, 'when a 60 Minutes segment warned Americans that underground storage tanks were a “time bomb” in their neighborhoods.' Unsurprisingly, the petroleum industry has known about this since at least the 1960s. 'In 1961, advertisements in the trade magazine National Petroleum News acknowledged that “rusty, leaky storage tanks” were a problem.' The big oil majors have been proactive, essentially pushing almost all of this liability on individual station owners. And, often ultimately on to all of us as taxpapers. Hence the watchword: Big Oil Knew. #petroleumindustry #gasoline #contamination