Sludge Watch ==> Illinois - Legislators blast waiver allowing BP to put more sludge in lake

[Maureen Reilly]

chicagotribune.com

Legislators blast waiver for BP plant near lake

By Michael Hawthorne
Tribune staff reporter
Published July 18, 2007

Several Great Lakes lawmakers this week urged federal regulators to block a 
BP refinery near the Illinois-Indiana border from dumping significantly more 
ammonia and industrial sludge into Lake Michigan.

Reacting to a story in Sunday's Tribune, members of Congress from Illinois, 
Indiana and Michigan contacted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
demanding to know why the agency stood idle while Indiana regulators 
approved the oil company's proposal.



Chicago and the Chicago Park District, meanwhile, are planning to conduct a 
petition drive at beaches this weekend to encourage public opposition to 
BP's plans.

State officials exempted BP from Indiana environmental laws to clear the way 
for a $3.8 billion expansion, which will allow the Whiting, Ind., refinery 
to process more heavy Canadian crude oil. They justified the move in part by 
noting the project will create 80 new jobs.

Like most states, Indiana is authorized to administer the Clean Water Act 
and other federal environmental laws. The U.S. EPA frequently steps in to 
oversee permits and enforcement, but in this case the agency did not object 
to the state's decision.

The refinery already is one of the largest polluters on the Great Lakes, but 
under BP's new state permit it 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 trigger beach closings, while sludge contains 
concentrated heavy metals.

Federal and state regulators acknowledged this is the first time in years 
that a company has been allowed to dump more pollution into the lake, the 
source of drinking water for Chicago and dozens of other communities.

"We need to embarrass the BP leadership to do the right thing," U.S. Rep. 
Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) said Tuesday on WGN radio's "The Spike O'Dell Show." "In 
my book, BP, which tries to market itself as an environmentally friendly 
company, now stands for 'Bad Pollution.'"

Kirk and other lawmakers said they previously weren't aware of the BP 
permit. Among those demanding more information were U.S. Sens. Richard 
Durbin (D-Ill.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Reps. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), 
Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) and Vernon Ehlers (R-Mich.).

Durbin sent a letter to top EPA officials in Washington citing, among other 
things, a Clean Water Act provision that prohibits any decline in water 
quality even if limits on pollution discharges are met. The amounts allowed 
under BP's new permit remain at or below federal guidelines.

"It's our responsibility to support efforts to restore, rather than further 
degrade Lake Michigan," Durbin wrote.

The EPA is preparing a response to the congressional letters and calls, said 
Phillipa Cannon, a spokeswoman in the agency's regional office in Chicago. 
Indiana regulators, meanwhile, said they forced BP to discharge less 
pollution than the company had requested.

In an e-mail, a BP official said the company is spending $90 million to 
upgrade the refinery's water-treatment plant.

"Every step has been done properly, with the oversight of state and federal 
regulators and in full public view," wrote Scott Dean, a company spokesman.

But state and federal regulators agreed with BP that there isn't enough room 
at the 1,400-acre Whiting site to upgrade the water treatment plant enough 
to keep more pollution out of the lake. As a result, the company will be 
allowed to dump an average of 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 pounds of 
sludge into Lake Michigan every day.

-----------

mhawthorne at tribune.com

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/southsouthwest/chi-bp_18jul18,1,5121416.story?coll=chi-newslocalssouthwest-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true