BP gets break on dumping in lake

[ensho]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/chi-pollute_15jul15,0,823234.story


Refinery expansion entices Indiana


The massive BP oil refinery in Whiting, Ind., is planning to dump significantly more ammonia and industrial sludge into Lake Michigan, running counter to years of efforts to clean up the Great Lakes.

Indiana regulators exempted BP from state environmental laws to clear the way for a $3.8 billion expansion that will allow the company to refine heavier Canadian crude oil. They justified the move in part by noting the project will create 80 new jobs.

Under BP's new state water permit, the refinery -- already one of the largest polluters along the Great Lakes -- can release 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more sludge into Lake Michigan each day. Ammonia promotes algae blooms that can kill fish, while sludge is full of concentrated heavy metals.

The refinery will still meet federal water pollution guidelines. But federal and state officials acknowledge this marks the first time in years that a company has been allowed to dump more toxic waste into Lake Michigan.

-snip-

The company will now be allowed to dump an average of 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 pounds of sludge into Lake Michigan every day. The additional sludge is the maximum allowed under federal guidelines.

Company officials insisted they did everything they could to keep more pollution out of the lake.

-snip-

"This is exactly the type of trade-off that we can no longer allow," wrote Shannon Sabel of West Lafayette, Ind. "Possible lower gas prices (I'll believe that when I see it!) against further contamination of our water is as shortsighted as it is irrational."
------------------------------


just so you know

[SemiCharmedQuark]

1. This is from 2007.

Just so you know.

[kas125]

9. It's an old article, but it's still an ongoing battle around

here. We've fought this tooth and nail, I know an attorney who has devoted her entire life to this issue for the past several years for no pay, but BP seems to have more sway over IDEM and 'our man Mitch' than we do. They're building the tar sand processing facility as we speak.

[ananda]

2. Destroy a lake for 80 jobs.

Quite a tradeoff...

[SidDithers]

3. Any updates to this 3 year-old article?...nt

Sid

[SemiCharmedQuark]

4. Funny how the OP makes it sound like it happened today

Weird...

[ensho]

5. none of it are my words - none

nt

[SemiCharmedQuark]

6. You posted a headline with no mention of the fact that this is a 3 yr old article

I think your intention here is clear to everyone.

[SidDithers]

7. +1...

"gets" is present tense.

Sid

[NNN0LHI]

8. Here is an update from 5 days ago - BP Gulf Oil Spill No Barrier to $3.8 Billion Refinery Expansion

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-02/bp-gulf-oil-spill-no-barrier-to-3-8-billion-refinery-expansion.html

June 02, 2010, 3:06 PM EDT

June 2 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc’s $3.8 billion expansion of the largest refinery in the U.S. Midwest won’t be delayed by criminal and regulatory probes into the company’s role in the largest oil spill in the country’s history.

BP is upgrading a 119-year-old refinery in Whiting, Indiana, on the southern shore of Lake Michigan to process more heavy crude from Canada’s oil sands, according to the London- based company’s website. The expansion will enable the plant to boost daily gasoline production by 1.7 million gallons, which at current retail prices would be worth $1.69 billion a year.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in November ordered the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to review construction and operating permits issued for the expansion in 2008.

The review, which hasn’t interrupted work on the project, isn’t taking into consideration the April 20 explosion at a BP well in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 workers and spewed millions of gallons of crude into the sea, said Rob Elstro, a spokesman for the state environmental agency.

“The Whiting permits are being evaluated independently of the spill,” Elstro said today in a telephone interview from Indianapolis. “This preceded the spill.”

Scott Dean, a spokesman for BP, didn’t immediately return a telephone message seeking comment. The company said in a March filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it’s in talks with federal environmental regulators over the review.

[blindpig]

10. Expropriate without compensation.

[Octafish]

11. BP gets OK to dump mercury into Lake Michigan

This is from 3 years ago, as well.

BP gets OK to dump mercury into Lake Michigan

Maybe if enough DUers post about it, Corporate McPravda will get around to reporting it on the tee vee someday.