BP Backs Off Dumping
BP promised that its Whiting, Ind., plant won't increase levels of pollution it dumps into Lake Michigan, a move that could ultimately scrap a $3.8 billion expansion. The increased levels have been a hot topic for the last few months across the Midwest. The MLPC wonders if this is just a short-term fix, and if the lower levels will in the future become legally binding.
Many scientists and politicians are questioning why BP doesn't put some muscle behind the company's promise to operate under current discharge guidelines, even though the company won a permit from the State of Indiana to increase the amount of waste BP can release.
The expansion would boost plant capacity to process Canadian crude oil, and the new permit would allow BP to release more treated wastewater by 2011. The water would contain 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more suspended solids than it already dumps into Lake Michigan.
August 24, 2007 6:46 AM | Category: Lake Michigan