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dubyaD40web Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 08:03 AM
Original message
BP gets OK to dump mercury into Lake Michigan
Source: USA Today

BP gets OK to dump mercury into Lake Michigan

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.



Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/environment/2007-07-30-mercury_N.htm
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Demeter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 08:07 AM
Response to Original message
1. Are They CRAZY???!!
After all the stink about autistic children, they're going to dump mercury in the Lakes? Couldn't they dispose of 3 miserable pounds of mercury appropriately?
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HereSince1628 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 08:10 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. Not crazy, they are the petroleum industry, they do as they please.
And they're pleased not to be forced to extract the mercury from their waste stream.
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saigon68 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 08:34 AM
Response to Reply #2
10. Capitalism gone mad
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roody Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 11:47 AM
Response to Reply #10
60. Capitalism is madness.
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INDIA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 12:57 PM
Response to Reply #60
69. Yes. China and the USSR proved how environmentally friendly socialism/communism is.
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Megahurtz Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 02:31 PM
Response to Reply #69
77. Are you defending Capitalism?
:shrug:
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Solon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-01-07 01:24 PM
Response to Reply #77
106. Don't mind that poster, they can't tell the difference between regulated Capitalism and Communism...
Much less the Socialism of places like western Europe. Nuance isn't that poster's strong suit, to put it mildly.
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OlderButWiser Donating Member (389 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 08:11 AM
Response to Reply #1
3. I assume that
the 3 pounds of mercury is diluted in millions of gallons of water and that's why they got the ok. But still...
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never cry wolf Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:04 AM
Response to Reply #3
17. See my post 15 below, it's much more than 3 lbs. of mercury
As a result, BP now will be allowed to dump an average of 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 pounds of suspended solids into the lake daily.
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Deep13 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 08:14 AM
Response to Original message
4. Running a fever? Put Lake Michigan under your tongue.
Not happy about this.
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groovedaddy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 08:15 AM
Response to Original message
5. Mercury in your fish, anyone?
Or your drinking water?
They go nuts if it shows up at school but it's okay to dump it in a lake that people use for water, food and recreation? What's wrong with this picture!?!
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Lisa Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 05:23 PM
Response to Reply #5
87. at this rate, the question will be, "fish in your mercury?"
That stuff is extremely hard to get rid of, once it enters the food web.
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City Lights Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 08:21 AM
Response to Original message
6. Fuck them.
They're hauling in cash by the ton, but they can't comply with a regulation from 1995? :wtf:

:nuke:
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onehandle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 08:25 AM
Response to Original message
7. Just as long as the water is bottled and served up in water coolers...
...to the executives of BP and the politicians that service them.
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cureautismnow Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:17 AM
Response to Reply #7
21. Exactly. Let THEM drink the poison first.
Bastards. :mad:
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Ilsa Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 06:28 PM
Response to Reply #21
91. Them and their pregnant relatives, partners, and kids.
And then let BP fund the special education they'll all need for developmental disorders.

Goddammit, this makes me sick.
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krispos42 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-01-07 02:57 AM
Response to Reply #7
104. The water cooler bottles need a little groove near the mouth...
circling it. That groove needs to be filled with mercury, making a little ring that the water must flow past just before it goes down to the spigot.

Just sort of a graphic example.
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TechBear_Seattle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 08:29 AM
Response to Original message
8. Recommended
This ought to be on the Greatest page.
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outofbounds Donating Member (578 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 08:34 AM
Response to Original message
9. Mercury!!!
I looks like a very small amount but I have experience with it living near a river that was polluted for 75years with Mercury. We can only eat shrimp out of this river mo more than once a week. Fish I believe twice a week. The real problem is the fishes offspring, three eyes, extra or no dorsal fins severe discoloration, and so on.
And when the EPA realizes they have been over dumping and decide its time clean up the mess they end up stirring the material and spreading it even more. When will they ever learn.
I don't see why BP doesn't separate it collect it and sell it to the compact florescent light bulb mfg
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ginnyinWI Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 08:45 AM
Response to Original message
11. well eating Lake Michigan fish hasn't been safe for some time now.
This is only going to make it worse. I believe Chicago uses it for its drinking water, though--yikes!
They ought to organize a huge protest and get on the evening news! The next president can't take office too soon!!
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PoconoPragmatist Donating Member (449 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:03 AM
Response to Reply #11
16. Yes.
As a native chicagoan, who is now transplanted on the East Coast...I can tell you that, in fact, yes, chicago DOES use Lake Michigan for drinking water. in fact, the very reason the flow of the chicago River was reversed by man, is because the chicago River is used for waste...and it used to flow INTO Lake Michigan. Through a series of canals, levees, etc, the flow of the Chicago river was reversed, so that now it flows AWAY FROM Lake Michigan...and for that very reason...because Lake Michigan is used for drinking water.
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AwakeAtLast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 08:49 AM
Response to Original message
12. That's "Our Man Mitch"!!!
:grr: :grr:

Not MY man!

:grr:

This is what happens when a Bushie runs a state!
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acmavm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 08:53 AM
Response to Original message
13. This is an intentional criminal act. Or would be in lawful times.
Edited on Tue Jul-31-07 08:53 AM by acmavm
What in the hell are we going to do? Something needs to be done. And FAST.

This is just a sample of the shit that's going to keep happening with these thugs in the White House.

IMPEACHMENT (and the follow-up trial)IS THE ONLY WAY OUT OF THIS MESS!!!
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EnviroBat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:48 AM
Response to Reply #13
49. I believe the time is near...
To start f'ing up these corporations and the people who run them in order to save this planet from annihilation...
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TheModernTerrorist Donating Member (645 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 01:01 PM
Response to Reply #49
73. I wholeheartedly agree
I just went SWIMMING in Lake Michigan yesterday...
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 08:56 AM
Response to Original message
14. Deleted sub-thread
Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
never cry wolf Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 08:59 AM
Response to Original message
15. It's not just mercury
Edited on Tue Jul-31-07 09:02 AM by never cry wolf
Yes, Chicago and many suburbs and other towns and cities along the lake get their drinking water from there.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-bp25jul25,1,5876509.story


The House appears set to approve a resolution Wednesday, sponsored in part by Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), that condemns the dumping permit. It allows BP to release 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more solids, tiny particles of pollutants that make up sludge, than it already dumps daily into Lake Michigan.

--------------

When the company sought a new water permit for the Whiting refinery, state and federal regulators agreed there isn't enough room at the 1,400-acre site to upgrade the water treatment plant enough to keep more pollution out of Lake Michigan, the source of drinking water for Chicago and scores of other communities.

As a result, BP now will be allowed to dump an average of 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 pounds of suspended solids into the lake daily. (my note, DAILY!)

The additional solids, tiny sludge particles that escape water treatment filters, are the maximum allowed under federal guidelines.

Ammonia promotes algae blooms that can kill fish, while suspended solids contain heavy metals such as lead, nickel and vanadium.

In advertisements and e-mails published during the past two weeks, BP has insisted the treated water it pumps into the lake is largely free of toxic waste. Federal records, though, show the refinery already is one of the largest sources of industrial pollution pumped directly into Lake Michigan.
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krkaufman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 05:08 PM
Response to Reply #15
85. BP ... Bringing Pollution to Chicago.
After reading this story, I think Bringing Pollution is a more fitting redefinition of the corporate acronym than Beyond Petroleum.
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WritersBlock Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-01-07 12:19 AM
Response to Reply #85
100. And a sub-header: "Now largely free of toxic waste!"


This is sickening.

Literally.

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ThatsMyBarack Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:05 AM
Response to Original message
18. Speaking of Mercury, I have a ?QUESTION?:
Didn't dimson recently veto a bil to remove mercury from vaccines? Those morans really must adore the stuff! :nuke:
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Megahurtz Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 02:50 PM
Response to Reply #18
81. Of Course.
It's probably part of their Population-Reduction Plan.
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MichiganVote Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:07 AM
Response to Original message
19. No more BP gas for this michigander
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asthmaticeog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:16 AM
Response to Original message
20. I just don't get it.
We KNOW now. We're not babes in the woods about this shit anymore, haven't been for decades. Why? Why the fuck do we continue to let them poison us?
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Zenlitened Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:57 AM
Response to Reply #20
33. It's crazed, isn't it? To take such a giant step backwards...
... with eyes wide open...

I just don't get it at all.

How many jobs would be CREATED by coming up with a method to sequester this stuff, rather than treating our nation's waterways like one big toilet bowl?

:banghead:
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krkaufman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 05:11 PM
Response to Reply #33
86. Perhaps, but doing so would cut into the short-term profits of the corporation.
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outofbounds Donating Member (578 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 05:56 PM
Response to Reply #86
90. doing so
would get more people out of poverty or even elevate them dangerously close to the rich. After all does greed ever like to be challenged? Greed tries to keep the inferior beneath them.
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Tesha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:29 AM
Response to Reply #20
39. That would be *BECAUSE OUR POLITICIANS ARE ALL COWARDS*...
That would be *BECAUSE OUR POLITICIANS ARE
ALL COWARDS* or corrupt, bought and paid-for
by "campaign contributions" from industry.

Tesha
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Doctor_J Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:22 AM
Response to Original message
22. Whew. I now live on Lake Erie
Though we're probably next.
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Tyler Durden Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:39 AM
Response to Reply #22
27. That just means you won't get the Mercury until the water flows there.
Lake Michigan empties into Lake Huron which empties into Lake Erie.

How's YOUR coffee tasting these days?
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asthmaticeog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:56 AM
Response to Reply #27
54. This raises a good point.
Can't other states that will be poisoned by this decision appeal? What about their vested interests? Eating Lake Erie Walleye is already like chugging a thermometer...

(BTW, I'm not saying that in a million years this will actually happen or that it will succeed if it does - I'm angry, not stupid.)
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madrchsod Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:26 AM
Response to Original message
23. illinois is going to sue to stop this dumping
maybe michigan will join in the suit also. there is a great lakes treaty,pact that all states have signed and are legally bound to. as far as illinois is concerned this issue is`t over
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eowyn_of_rohan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:21 AM
Response to Reply #23
38. Hey, don't forget Wisconsin...
Edited on Tue Jul-31-07 11:03 AM by eowyn_of_rohan
This is outrageous

Article from today's Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press:
"Naturally, this increase in toxic waste going into Lake Michigan has raised the ire of every boarder state, except Indiana. Congressional representatives from Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin championed a resolution urging Indiana to reconsider the approval. It passed the House 387-26 last week.

Mayors of several Wisconsin coastal communities, including Sheboygan, sent a strongly worded letter opposing the discharge permit to the Indiana state agency. These cities are among the dozens that rely on Lake Michigan for safe drinking water. The people who live in these communities also fish and boat on Lake Michigan."

http://www.sheboygan-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070731/SHE06/707310459/1883
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madrchsod Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 12:05 PM
Response to Reply #38
64. sorry! it`s going to take wisconsin,illinois, and michigan
to sue indiana
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sybylla Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 01:00 PM
Response to Reply #38
72. Yeah, but our puke nutjob AG isn't likely to sign on to a lawsuit
unless the corporate front group, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, and Alberto Gonzales tell him to.
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eowyn_of_rohan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 02:32 PM
Response to Reply #72
78. But, but, he grew up in the Northwoods and is dedicated to public service!
"Attorney General, J.B. (John) Van Hollen grew up in the North woods of Wisconsin where he developed an appreciation for the great outdoors, family and community, and dedication to public service."

If you would like to contact the Wisconsin Department of Justice by telephone, please call:

608-266-1221


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barb162 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:49 AM
Response to Reply #23
50. Terrific. Someone needs to stop this nonsense.
BP has billions in profits a year and doesn't have to dump in a source of water for millions of people.
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Pharlo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 07:02 PM
Response to Reply #23
96. What about Canada?
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=268959

I am certain they would be as concerned about poison being introduced to the Great Lakes as they are about diversions. There are eight states and two Canadian provinces that border the Great Lakes - all of which will be affected. It's not just three states - I do believe seven states, two provinces and environmental groups will probably be concerned about this.
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frazzled Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:27 AM
Response to Original message
24. It's not just mercury they're dumping--please boycott BP
It's tons of amonia and sludge, and a number of legislaors, local and national are trying to do something about it. The new (and so far terrific) Alderman of Chicago's 42nd Ward explains:

Alderman Brendan Reilly has joined with fellow Illinois lawmakers, including U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, U.S. Rep Rahm Emmanuel, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Lt. Governor Pat Quinn to help spearhead efforts to block plans by BP (formerly British Petroleum) to dump tons of toxic pollutants into Lake Michigan from their Indiana refinery.

BP has secured permits for its Whiting, Indiana plant to dump an average of 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 pounds of sludge into Lake Michigan daily. Nitrogen-rich ammonia creates algae blooms that kill fish and threaten Chicago's beaches, and the industrial sludge contains heavy metals like lead, nickel and vanadium which can end up in our food supply.

Lake Michigan is not just Chicago's greatest natural resource, its one of the greatest natural resources in the world. The Great Lakes contain 20% of the world's supply of fresh water, and commercial and sport fishing alone contribute $5 billion a year to the region's economy, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

You can join Alderman Reilly in opposing BP's plans to flood Lake Michigan with industrial waste by signing this online petition to Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, BP President Robert Malone, and the U.S. EPA.

Sign the Petition Against Lake Michigan Dumping Here. http://www.standingupforillinois.org/bp/index.php


Many of us here in the Chicago area are refusing to buy our gas from BP, and are writing to say so. It would be helpful if people from other regions as well would join in this effort. After all, Great Lakes pollution can affect us all.


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loudsue Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-01-07 12:42 AM
Response to Reply #24
102. BOYCOTT!!! You bet! And write BP & let them KNOW we're going to boycott!!!
This is outrageous!!! The fucking terrorists are on our own soil using chemical warfare.

Write letters to BP & spread this all over the internet, and QUIT BUYING ANY GAS AT A BP STATION!!!

Let them KNOW that we're really not going to stand for this.

:kick::kick::kick:
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madrchsod Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:29 AM
Response to Original message
25. 86 more jobs is indiana excuse for polluting the south shore
of lake michigan. the dunes organizations are also joining in the fight against this...
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Gidney N Cloyd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:31 AM
Response to Original message
26. Steve Cochran, WGN-AM aft drive moran, was actually DEFENDING BP last week.
Sonuvabitch O'Reilly wannabe had me screaming at the radio. He must have some corporate gigs lined up and doesn't want to offend his masters.
There is absolutely NO EXCUSE after all the progress we've made on environmental laws to be dumping MORE crap in the lake.
GOD DAMN every last one of these bastards and their media toadies!!!!!!
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Doctor_J Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:44 AM
Response to Reply #26
30. WGN is one of the most GOP stations in the US
this is not surprising.
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Gidney N Cloyd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:01 AM
Response to Reply #30
34. It's always been conservative, but on top of that Cochran is a fool.
Fancies himself well-informed but he always reminds me of the scene in "A Fish Called Wanda":

"Apes don't read Nietzsche!"
"Yes they do, Otto, they just don't UNDERSTAND it."
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barb162 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:45 AM
Response to Reply #26
45. damn straight.
I shake my head in disgust at this crap already.
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Ian David Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:39 AM
Response to Original message
28. It won't be long until giant fish are eating the ducks, and mutant grizzles wreak havoc. n/t
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dysfunctional press Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 02:36 PM
Response to Reply #28
79. ???- and you base that assertion on...what exactly?
:shrug:
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Ian David Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 07:00 PM
Response to Reply #79
95. For one thing, bears are the number one threat to America. Also...
Edited on Tue Jul-31-07 07:00 PM by IanDB1
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Tyler Durden Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:42 AM
Response to Original message
29. Called Senator Levin's Office...they have gotten a lot of calls about this.
Call in...add your voice. I just did.
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underpants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:44 AM
Response to Original message
31. THANK GOD! I was worried that some people might not have a chance to get a dividend this year
and basically that is all we are worried about right? The CHANCE to MAYBE get a dividend check this year? Right?

:sarcasm:

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HootieMcBoob Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:56 AM
Response to Original message
32. You have got to be kidding me!
Mercury is a heavy metal isn't it? It will be in that lake forever!

This is a terrible, boneheaded, shortsighted and very serious mistake.
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tridim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:04 AM
Response to Original message
35. But their commercials are all about the environment..
They're filled with flowers, singing birds and happy people dancing around like Disney characters. What gives? "Beyond Petrolium" wouldn't lie to us would they?
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NorthernSpy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-01-07 01:33 PM
Response to Reply #35
107. yup, classic greenwashing...
:puke:

Also, BP runs some of the shoddiest, most dangerous refineries around. How many times has that one in Texas blow up so far?

And then there was that recent big spill in Alaska... That was BP too, wasn't it?
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Highway61 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:11 AM
Response to Original message
36. BY 2012!!!!!!!
It will be one big thermometer....stinking, rotten bastards bastards...
It is one of those times that God must be crying
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truebrit71 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:16 AM
Response to Original message
37. Whilst at the same time running commercials on TV talking about how 'green' they are...
...this just makes me boiling mad.... :grr:
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barb162 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:47 AM
Response to Reply #37
46. Yes, those commercials are SO out of line to what they really do!
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BrightKnight Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:31 AM
Response to Original message
40. TERROR!: 3lbs of mercury 3 miles from the Chicago water intake
Edited on Tue Jul-31-07 10:33 AM by BrightKnight
Somebody needs to notify DHS. Somebody is going to release 3 lbs or mercury 3 miles from the Chicago drinking water intake. I bet there are water intakes even closer.

I know that the rust belt is desperate for jobs but this is insane.
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shain from kane Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:49 AM
Response to Reply #40
51. My grandson is in Whiting, living with my son's ex-wife. I guess I'm going
to have to pack some bottled water for him. Maybe it's time to set a fire under my son's ass to regain custody, and move him south.

By the way, I believe that the BP refinery in Whiting is the biggest refinery in the entire USA.
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BrightKnight Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 12:16 PM
Response to Reply #51
67. actually 15 to 20 lbs - You would have to be mad as a hatter to live near that.
I don't see how any sane person could drink the water.
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madhoosier Donating Member (130 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:32 AM
Response to Original message
41. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources already lists
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources already lists every stream and river in the state of Indiana as too polluted to swim or wade in. Also the state is granting a bunch of tax breaks to the ethanol plants that are being built in Indiana even though they are profitable without any corporate welfare and the get a fifty one cent a gallon Federal tax credit.

I was on the south side of Fort Wayne Indiana last week, the south side was always a blue collar working class neighborhood, it's now almost a ghost town, nearly all the commercial buildings are vacant, no cars on the streets, and lots of vacant housing. Sheriff's sales on houses in Fort Wayne often see decent 1,500 Sq. Ft. houses sell for $20,00.00 to slum lords who buy them for rentals.
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bbgrunt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:39 AM
Response to Original message
42. Mark Twain once said that if the world was coming
to an end, he would move to Indiana because it was always 10 years behind the times. Unfortunately, with Mitch Daniels as governor, we now see Indiana leading in the republican revolution to destroy this country. Indiana also sold off public highways to foreign owners for a one time tax gain.
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whistle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:41 AM
Response to Original message
43. Gawk, so typical of BushCo and his rethuglicon cronies.... so expect
...the Great Lakes fishing industry and shore line tourism industry to begin seeing a Chisso-Minamata disease among their customers and people around the Great Lakes.

<snip>
Minamata disease
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Minamata disease (水俣病, Minamata-byō?), sometimes referred to as Chisso-Minamata disease (窒素水俣病, Chisso-Minamata-byō?), is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. Symptoms include ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, narrowing of the field of vision and damage to hearing and speech. In extreme cases, insanity, paralysis, coma and death follow within weeks of the onset of symptoms. A congenital form of the disease can also affect fetuses in the womb.

Minamata disease was first discovered in Minamata city in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan in 1956. It was caused by the release of methyl mercury in the industrial wastewater from the Chisso Corporation's chemical factory, which continued from 1932 to 1968. This highly toxic chemical bioaccumulated in shellfish and fish in Minamata Bay and the Shiranui Sea, which when eaten by the local populace resulted in mercury poisoning. While cat, dog, pig and human deaths continued over more than 30 years, the government and company did little to prevent the pollution.

As of March 2001, 2,265 victims had been officially recognised (1,784 of whom had died)<1> and over 10,000 had received financial compensation from Chisso.<2> Lawsuits and claims for compensation continue to this day.

A second outbreak of Minamata disease occurred in Niigata Prefecture in 1965. Both the original Minamata disease and Niigata Minamata disease are considered two of the Four Big Pollution Diseases of Japan.

<MORE>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata_disease
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hedgehog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:47 AM
Response to Reply #43
47. There is no Great Lakes fishing industry, at least not on Lake Ontario.
It's not safe to eat any fish taken in any waterway in New York due to lingering mercury and PCB contamination.
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shain from kane Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 11:06 AM
Response to Reply #43
57. About 3,000 deaths in 9/11, and the conduct of our lives are forever altered. 2,265 lives affected
by mercury poisoning in one city, and it's business as usual. 50 years later, and claims for compensation continue.
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Hobbs Donating Member (69 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:45 AM
Response to Original message
44. Had Enough?
Why don't Bush and his cronies just pump their fat cat corporate toxic waste into are children intravenously?

Our Government Representatives need to learn that no means no. No more lies, no more killing, no more wars, no more damaging of are health for corporate profit and K-Street pay offs.
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MetaTrope Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:47 AM
Response to Original message
48. Anybody living in Chicago who swims in the lake is gonna love this
:puke:
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LSK Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:55 AM
Response to Original message
52. WHY?!?!?! I would think properly disposing of 3 lbs of Mercury
Is not hard or going to break the bank.
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Hobbs Donating Member (69 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 11:02 AM
Response to Reply #52
55. End stage renal failure
is what anyone taking a dip in Lake Michigan should expect. The big Super Tidy Bowl of America.
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BrightKnight Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 09:28 PM
Response to Reply #52
97. Big Oil can't afford proper pollution controls and waste disposal.
Edited on Tue Jul-31-07 09:29 PM by BrightKnight
The profit margins in the oil industry are very thin. There would not be enough money left over for all of the mega bonuses.

It is cheaper and easier to bribe the neocons.
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progressoid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:56 AM
Response to Original message
53. What's the big deal? It just sinks to the bottom right?




Do I have to add this...:sarcasm:
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mzmolly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 11:04 AM
Response to Original message
56. Perhaps they can use it to preserve vaccines instead?
Kind of a win/win ya know? :sarcasm:
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Peregrine Took Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 11:09 AM
Response to Original message
58. Looks like this Illinoisian will be $taying away from the $tinky red state to
my east - for a long, long time.
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ooglymoogly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 11:09 AM
Response to Original message
59. This is further proof of the depth of the insanity we have fallen into nt.
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amandabeech Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 11:51 AM
Response to Original message
61. As an earlier poster said,
let's sic the lawyers on them, public and private.

I grew up 10 miles from the Lake in Michigan. This kind of crap simply has to stop.
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Vinca Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 11:58 AM
Response to Original message
62. It's hard to believe, given what we know about mercury,
that something as insane as this would be LEGAL! Why should we be afraid of terrorists poisoning us when our own lawmakers are apparently sanctioning it?
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zalinda Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 12:02 PM
Response to Original message
63. Maybe you could get in contact with some one
who could use this http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6917753.stm as a defense against dumping. The oil companies are making record profits, putting a filter on to catch the mercury, shouldn't cut too much into their profits.

I know that our lake, Onondaga Lake, is loaded with Mercury, no one's been able to swim in it for over a hundred years. Of course, it's a much smaller lake, but it can kill a lake.

zalinda
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RestoreGore Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 12:09 PM
Response to Original message
65. MAKE THEM DRINK IT
This is heartbreaking and outrageous. Can we do anything?
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Hobbs Donating Member (69 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 12:12 PM
Response to Original message
66. Question
How can Indiana Dept of Environmental Management give an exemption on federal law? Did they succeed from the Union?

I can't take a dump in the park or in the streets of Chicago, but BP can take a dump in my drinking water.
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Like It Is Donating Member (495 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 12:54 PM
Response to Original message
68. BOYCOTT BP NOW !
And keep it up till they clean up their act once and for all.
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LiberalFighter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 03:17 PM
Response to Reply #68
83. Need to Boycott Indiana too since Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels doesn't see a problem with it.
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Like It Is Donating Member (495 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:02 PM
Response to Reply #83
98. Typical Repug Reaction!
Pollution doesn't bother them.
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TheModernTerrorist Donating Member (645 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 12:58 PM
Response to Original message
70. oh my god!
fuck that! I just went swimming in Lake Michigan yesterday...
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Deep13 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 01:00 PM
Response to Original message
71. Deep13 gets OK to dump BP as gasoline supplier.
assholes
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Mojambo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 01:50 PM
Response to Original message
74. I was going to say unfuckingbelievable, but this is totallyfuckingbelievable. n/t
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NoodleyAppendage Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 01:57 PM
Response to Original message
75. BP = Bathing in Pollution
So much for their "pro-environment" stance. Why is their even a need to dump mercury anywhere? Couldn't they capture it and resell to industry that may be able to put it to good purpose?

J
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Initech Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 02:02 PM
Response to Original message
76. Once again, the corporate asswipes win every time!
This is absolutely fucking outrageous! :grr: :argh:
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Massachusetts Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 02:45 PM
Response to Original message
80. The corporate rape of OUR country continues unabated
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LiberalFighter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 03:16 PM
Response to Original message
82. This is actually old news
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krkaufman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 05:03 PM
Response to Original message
84. Nice that the Indiana Dept of Env. Mgmt. has OK'd dumping all that mercury ...
... just a few miles away from Chicago's beaches.
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Snarkoleptic Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 05:33 PM
Response to Reply #84
89. The larger concern is the fact that MILLIONS of Chicago...
and suburban Chicago residents are supplied with Lake Michigan water through their municipal water systems.
The overwhelming majority of people who live within 30 miles of Chicago are drinking this crap.
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smtpgirl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 05:28 PM
Response to Original message
88. Won't eat anymore fresh water fish, that's for sure
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knitter4democracy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 06:45 PM
Response to Original message
92. We need to get Gov. Granholm on this.
Michigan owns more of Lake Michigan than Indiana does by far. There are also treaties with Canada about all of the Great Lakes (since water from Lake Michigan flows into Lake Huron, too). We need to get the Canadian government on this, too.
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rudy23 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 06:51 PM
Response to Original message
93. Payback against Chicago for being "blue". New Orleans II.
Maybe Rove figures if he can make Chicago unsafe, he can scatter the blue voters amongst the midwest, the way they are doing in New Orleans.

Then they can give them trailers made of Mercury to live in.
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BrightKnight Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 10:10 PM
Response to Reply #93
99. Poor people will get sick and die and others will buy filters.
Edited on Tue Jul-31-07 10:11 PM by BrightKnight
It is possible to install shower and drinking water filters in every home. A household filter system is about $800. Shower and faucet filters are about $100. Filters must be replaced periodically. The cost of installing household filters would be a lot more than the cost of installing proper pollution controls at the source.

The cost of all of those sick and developmentally damaged people is going to be high. Nobody will notice and BE's PE numbers will look great for the next 5 years.
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sarcasmo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-31-07 06:59 PM
Response to Original message
94. Corporat Amerika shits on my State again.
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AllyCat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-01-07 12:36 AM
Response to Original message
101. Shouldn't the other states on the Great Lakes be allowed a say in this?
Not only that, the Great Lakes are constantly eye-balled as the great reservoir of fresh water for the rest of the region. Who would want to drink that?
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ryanmuegge Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-01-07 01:34 AM
Response to Original message
103. Remember that dumb bitch with the BP shirt at Live Earth?
What an idiot.

Their reputation as a "green" oil company isn't based on reality. This is just more evidence of it.
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baghdad_bush Donating Member (154 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-01-07 08:25 AM
Response to Original message
105. I have never and will never buy anything from BP. NEVER!
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Nihil Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-02-07 11:42 AM
Response to Reply #105
109. Guess you haven't got a car then?
If you've got down the list as far as BP then you must have crossed off
just about every other major in the oil industry.

On the other hand, if you are running your car on home-grown biofuel
then well done!

(Of course, if you *haven't* got a car then your boycott of BP really
doesn't matter does it?)
:shrug:
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NorthernSpy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-01-07 01:41 PM
Response to Original message
108. poisoning a lake is environmental terrorism
If al Qaeda were dumping mercury in our lakes, we'd call it what it is.
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