Hydrogen cyanide, or HCN, is a toxic air pollutant emitted by petroleum refineries. HCN is a colorless gas that may smell sometimes like bitter almonds, old sneakers, or nothing at all.

HCN was used as a chemical warfare agent in World War I and the Iran-Iraq conflict during the 1980s, and it is formally classified as an agent of chemical warfare.

The Trump administration EPA knew that petroleum refineries across the nation release hydrogen cyanide into the air poisoning communities nationwide. Yet the Trump administration EPA totally ignored the problem and had failed to set a health-based hydrogen cyanide emission limit.  

So we urge the current EPA chief Mr. Michael S. Regan under President Joe Biden to look into this immediately and

1) set a numeric limit that would protect children’s health, vulnerable populations, and pregnant women

2) Consider cumulative impacts to exposure to multiple sources of pollution and the best available science while setting the limits

3) An alert system for the community at the time of release

4) Issue Communication in all the languages of the local population

5) Require real-time continuous monitoring of HCN emissions

6) Permit states to set more stringent regulations over-and-above the EPA limits.

7) Enforce these as quickly as possible.