By David Steinkraus
Journal Times | Posted: Thursday, August 23, 2007 12:00 am
On Thursday BP promised that its Whiting oil refinery wouldn't use the higher pollution limits granted by the state of Indiana, but that statement did not put off action by people working to stop the plant from dumping larger amounts of solids and ammonia into Lake Michigan.
The refinery, the Midwest's largest according to the company, is scheduled for an expansion to accommodate crude oil from Canada. This will give the Midwest a stable source of fuel, the company has said. As part of the expansion, BP received a water pollution permit which allows it to increase its discharge of ammonia up to 1,500 pounds daily and solids up to 5,000 pounds. That permit drew widespread criticism from organizations and citizens around the southern end of the lake.
On Thursday the company said it would not use those higher limits and promised to explore new technologies that will allow the refinery to meet pollution limits in its current permit. A scientist at the Great Lakes Water Institute in Milwaukee told The Journal Times last week that such technology exists, and federal lawmakers have asked scientists from Argonne National Laboratory in suburban Chicago and from Purdue University to help BP. However, the company statement said, if the required changes are too great the expansion may be canceled.
It was consolation accompanied by a veiled threat, said state Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine. "What they promised to do was not immediately increase the amount of pollution," he said. "And I get little solace from a promise not to dump today."
Along with state Sen. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie, Mason is circulating a letter among legislators asking for support in objecting to the refinery permit. They will also be sending a letter to state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen next week asking what legal options the state has under federal law such as the Clean Water and Clean Air acts.
The letters have been out a day and have already drawn 20 signers, Mason said, and more than 25 people from his district have contacted him, a substantial number for any single issue.
Cameron Davis, executive director of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, expressed like sentiments in a press release. Last week the alliance filed an administrative legal challenge to the refinery's permit.
BP's commitment to limit pollution was hopeful, Davis said in the release, but the company must provide assurances that the lower limits will be followed.
"The Alliance will maintain its legal challenge to the water pollution permit to ensure that BP's commitment is locked into place," Davis said.
"The real story here isn't about ammonia or suspended solids. It's that people are demanding a new standard of care for the Great Lakes. They want to see them restored over time - not the status quo. This generation wants to leave the Great Lakes better than the way we found them."