Our Great Lakes and the raising destruction in the Gulf

[DimplesinMI]

This is something that I am been thinking about heavily for at least the past two weeks. On TV, the beatdrum of the crisis in the Gulf, has been getting worse by the day. BP, I believe, is confused and lost on how to fix the issue. President Obama is dumbfounded and increasing angry at BP's lack of response to control the leak. Meanwhile, the people of the Gulf and soon to be other areas (possibly up and down the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans) might feel the effects of a man made oil disaster.

Worrying daily about the long-term effects on marine life, what will happen if this leak cannot be fixed until August 2010 or beyond. Fish and other sea based food will become an afterthought. Many regions of the world, including in the U.S., depend on fish and its' products as a part of their daily diet. What will happen to them?

I believe (I am not a scientist by no means) that a part of the Oxygen we need to live is supplied by water. That water is being choked to supply the very resource that is required for human life. What about the water itself? If it is destroyed by this oil consisting pumping itself into this natural resource.....what will we drink?

Next, I start to think about my state, Michigan. We have experienced alot of pain in this state recently, with high Unemployment, foreclosures running rampant, the Automobile industry near collapse and the like. Many others outside of our state have noted that our dependence on the auto industry for a large portion of the jobs in this state was "our problem" and that we should have suffered the effects of a manufacturing industry collapse, without any assistance from the Government.

What they forgot and maybe now are starting to remember (with the tragedy in the Gulf) is that Michigan has one (or really FIVE) great resources that may come into play the next couple of months.....our Great Lakes and the fresh, clean water...each of them as a whole.

Our water is our life is this state. Go anywhere in Michigan and you can find a lake, pond or river within a 10 minute drive radius of any location. Our fresh water has not been invaded by the likes of BP or other oil-drilling-for-profits corporations that do not care about the human effects of a mistake such as this.........yet. I wonder...if this oil spill destroys the oceans, what will happen to states like ours?

Will those Republicans, Corporations and other individuals that stated our Auto Industry did not warrant a bailout, come into our state in an attempt to take over our water? Will Michiganders have to share our great resource with others that did not care if our entire state was destroyed.....just a year ago? I wonder....

[KamaAina]

1. Believe me, they've had their eye on it for years

The thirsty Southwest's pipe dream -- literally -- is to stick a giant straw into the Great Lakes and suck their water across two-thirds of a continent. :eyes:

[jwirr]

2. You are not alone in this worry. We in Minnesota also want to protect

our natural resources. The states + Canada must join together to plan for this eventuality.

[DimplesinMI]

4. Agreed.....We can be next to conquer

On the BIG GREED UNHUMAN Corporations, eye-sight for our great (and Blessed I might add) natural water resources.

[Submariner]

3. In the not too distant future the Great Lakes will be taken

over by the invasive Asian Carp species wiping out ALL the sport fish. You can kiss off the Muskie, Walleye and Yellow Perch and every other species in that watershed in the next decade or so. When that happens the south will argue for the water because there will be no harm to the then non-existent sport fishery. Between the Asian Carp and Zebra Mussel, the GLAKES will be toast sorry to say.

[DimplesinMI]

5. You think..........

We are dealing with that issue. Meanwhile I see people fishing, eating the fish, enjoying the beaches, making a living off of water based natural resources, sailing boats in the water.....daily. Unlike the Gulf at this moment.

[Mendocino]

6. I'm in NW Ohio.

Our water stays put.

[CrispyQ]

7. Isn't Nestle Water pumping from underground wells in MI &

then bottling that water to sell? I saw a documentary on this a few years ago & IIRC, the company is Nestle.


Just Googled it & yes, I was right - it is Nestle & it is happening in MI.

http://www.worldwaterwars.com/UnitedStates/Michigan/index.htm

snip...

The Ice Mountain Spring Water Bottling Factory is pumping hundreds of millions of gallons per year of Michigan water out of enormous bore hole deep wells — taking billions of dollars in corporate profit from water that belongs to the people of Michigan. We think this is wrong! We think Michigan water should not become the private property of a Swiss owned water mining factory. Ice Mountain Spring Water™ is a wholly owned division of Nestlé Waters North America, Inc. — which was formerly marketed as the Perrier Group of America Inc.

=====

It looks like the citizens were able to stop this particular theft, although you know the battle never ends. Overall, an interesting site.

Here's another:

5 Documentaries You Must See to Understand the Water Crisis

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/06/five-documentaries-to-understand-water-crisis.php

[DimplesinMI]

8. Thanks for that Information..............

[Dr.Phool]

9. Florida too. Out of the springs from the aquifer.

Think Zephyrhills.

[noamnety]

10. The supreme court sided with corporations over preservation of the great lakes this year.

submariner mentioned above that invasive species (asian carp and zebra muscles) are killing the ecosystem. The supreme court knows this, and decided this year to prioritize shipping access over preserving lake michigan.

http://detnews.com/article/20100428/OPINION01/4280318/Editorial--Great-Lakes-officials-should-join-forces-on-carp-issue

[frazzled]

11. BP has been dumping toxins into your fresh, clean Michigan water

This happened during the Bush administration, with the help of Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana. From 2007:

An enormous BP oil refinery in Indiana is planning to pour significantly more ammonia and industrial sludge into Lake Michigan, it was reported.

The move by the British Petroleum oil refinery of Whiting, Ind., runs counter to years of efforts to clean up the U.S. Great Lakes, The Chicago Tribune reported Saturday.

State regulators exempted BP from environmental laws to pave the way for a $3.8 billion expansion to let BP refine heavier Canadian crude oil. Regulators justified the move, in part, by noting the project will create 80 new jobs.

BP, which aggressively markets itself as environmentally friendly, already is one of the largest polluters along the Great Lakes.

Under the new state water permit, BP can release 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more sludge into Lake Michigan every day. Ammonia promotes algae blooms that can kill fish and the sludge is dense with heavy metals, the newspaper reported.

The refinery still will meet federal water pollution guidelines, but state and federal officials acknowledge it is the first time in years a company has been approved to dump more toxic waste into Lake Michigan.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1000275/bp_to_dump_more_toxins_in_lake_michigan/index.html

So, I hate to tell you, but your statement that "Our water has not been invaded by the likes of BP or other oil-drilling-for-profits corporations" is, alas, very incorrect.

[DimplesinMI]

12. This article is from 2007

And who is "United Press International"? No news service I have heard of. In addition, Indiana does not any authority of the Great Lakes. First, they share like 20 miles max of shoreline.....if that is the case, Wisconsin and Ohio would have more say so with their shoreline boarder. Sorry, I do not buy this story from "Red Orbit....via United Press International". Find me a story from any Michigan based news organization.....then I will believe it...........

[mikita]

13. are you serious that you haven't

heard of UPI? (United Press International)

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2007/07/14/BP-to-dump-more-toxins-in-Lake-Michigan/UPI-47781184426008/

Along with Reuters, one of the usual sources for many news flashes.

Not to say that all news is *truthiness* by any stretch of the imagination, but they are, I believe, a major source....

[frazzled]

14. I say right there they got the approval to dump in 2007; you think it's all clean now?

Do you not want to believe this? I don't know where you've been for the last three years, but this was HUGE news in Illinois.

Here are some other sources, to confirm:

Rebuffing bipartisan pressure from members of Congress, the Bush administration's top environmental regulator on Tuesday declined to stop the BP refinery in northwest Indiana from dumping more pollution into Lake Michigan.

Stephen Johnson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said he saw nothing wrong with the permit Indiana regulators awarded in June to BP, the first company in years allowed to increase the amount of toxic chemicals pumped into the Great Lakes.

As part of a $3 billion expansion of its Whiting, Ind., refinery, the nation's fourth largest, BP won permission to release more ammonia and suspended solids into the lake. Indiana regulators also gave BP until 2012 to meet a stringent federal standard for mercury pollution set by the EPA in 1995.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/west/chi-bp_01aug01,0,7768873.story

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep Rahm Emanuel are taking on BP, joining the campaign to keep the company from dumping more waste from its Whiting, Ind. plant into Lake Michigan, as CBS 2's Suznne Le Mignot reports.

"From our point of view, they've gone beyond reason, in what they're asking for," said Sen. Dick Durbin.

Durbin and U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) joined forces with community leaders Saturday in protest to those in charge at British Petroleum. The group wants the oil company to rethink plans to increase the dumping of ammonia and solid waste into Lake Michigan from their Whiting, Ind. facility.

"Thirty-seven million Americans get their daily drinking water from the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan and the largest body of fresh water in all of North America," said Emanuel. "Ninety percent of our fresh water is right here. This is our Yellowstone Park."

The state of Indiana has already allowed BP to release more ammonia and small solid particles into the water.

http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/Sen.Dick.Durbin.2.338433.html

A BP (BP) refinery in Indiana will be allowed to continue to dump mercury into Lake Michigan under a permit issued by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
The permit exempts the BP plant at Whiting, Ind., 3 miles southeast of Chicago, from a 1995 federal regulation limiting mercury discharges into the Great Lakes to 1.3 ounces per year.

The BP plant reported releasing 3 pounds of mercury through surface water discharges each year from 2002 to 2005, according to the Toxics Release Inventory, a database on pollution emissions kept by the Environmental Protection Agency that is based on information reported by companies.

The permit was issued July 21 in connection with the plant's $3.8 billion expansion, but only late last week began to generate public controversy. It gives the company until at least 2012 to meet the federal standard.

The action was denounced by environmental groups and members of Congress.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/environment/2007-07-30-mercury_N.htm

Oh, and an update from 2010, just last week:

While British Petroleum (BP) is in the news for the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico — quickly becoming the worst environmental disaster in the nation’s history — environmental groups and lawmakers are arguing that the company’s environmental practices pose a similar threat to the Great Lakes.

BP’s Whiting oil refinery, on the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan in Indiana, is the nation’s fourth largest refinery and is in the process of a $3.8 billion dollar expansion project aimed at boosting its capacity to process oil from the Canadian tar sands.

The mega-refinery is the 6th largest source of industrial pollution in the Chicago area, according to an analysis by the Chicago Tribune, and its expanded operations are expected to increase greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent — the equivalent of adding 320,000 cars to area roads.

The BP facility already has a history of environmental violations.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency the refinery has violated air pollution rules since 2005 by modifying the plant in ways that have increased its toxic emissions without needed permits or pollution controls.

The plant’s un-permitted modifications have resulted in a significant increase in nitrogen oxides (NO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide(C0), and particulate matter less than 10 microns (PM10) emissions at a major pollution source in an area that already has very poor air quality, EPA said.

The agency warned that these emissions contribute to acid rain, increase smog levels and contribute to cardiovascular disease, lung damage, and premature deaths.

In May 2009 EPA cited the company for excessive benzene releases going back six years. According to EPA BP released 16 times the allowable limit of benzene in 2008.

“Benzene is a known human carcinogen, shown to cause leukemia,“ the agency wrote. “Ecological effects include death in exposed animal, bird and fish populations and death or reduced growth rate in plant life.”

In February 2010 EPA added another violation, notifying the company that its flares were burning inefficiently in violation of air pollution control practices.

Despite the ongoing environmental violations at the refinery, in 2007 as part of the plant’s expansion project, the state of Indiana granted a permit to the company that would allow it to substantially increase its pollution of Lake Michigan, which is the drinking water supply for neighboring Chicago and many other communities.

http://michiganmessenger.com/38164/bp-refinery-threatens-great-lakes-ecosystem