Chicago Tribune: BP Gets Break on Dumping in Lake Michigan

[Psephos]

BP gets break on dumping in lake
Refinery expansion entices Indiana

By Michael Hawthorne
Tribune staff reporter
Published July 15, 2007

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.

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Full story here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-pollute_15jul15,1,647384.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true

[PDJane]

1. Not content with spoiling their own waters,

The US decides to pollute international boundary waters, an irreplaceable body of fresh water left over from the last ice age.

Thank you Bush.

[CookCountyResident]

5. Detroit continues to dump sewage

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070706/NEWS06/707060462/-1/NEWS

Illinois lawmakers want to quadruple fines for sewage in Great Lakes

[Peregrine Took]

2. This is what happens when you share a resource with a friggin' RED state!

All for 80 lousy jobs???

This is an outrage!

[MichiganVote]

3. Christ, the lake was just starting to improve after years of the effects of non pollution.

[Robbien]

4. Eighty jobs versus drinking water for tens of millions of people

Nestle will be pissed when they find out. They also draw their bottled water from Lake Michigan. Probably why the deal was kept quiet until final papers were signed.