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Monday, July 16, 2007

Environment - More on: Indiana gives BP break on dumping in lake

In this entry Saturday, the ILB posted quotes from the Chicago Tribune story that was headlined "Indiana gives BP break on dumping in lake", including this quote:

In response to public protests, state officials justified the additional pollution by concluding the project will create more jobs and "increase the diversity and security of oil supplies to the Midwestern United States." A rarely invoked state law trumps anti-pollution rules if a company offers "important social or economic benefits."
Following the quotes, the ILB noted that the designated IDEM site for information on this permit -- "BP Products North America Inc., Whiting Refinery NPDES Permit Information" did not include either the Notice of Decision (NOD) or a readily accessible copy of the notification letter to BP -- essentials in order to file a timely appeal.

Yesterday Gitte Laasby reported in the Gary Post Tribune:

BP will face no appeals of its new wastewater permit, which allows the company to discharge 1,600 pounds of ammonia and 4,900 pounds of sludge into Lake Michigan per day.

Area environmental group Save the Dunes decided it didn't have the time or money for the legal appeal process. Many of the 40 other Hoosiers who protested the permit didn't know they had the option.

Concerned residents are outraged, saying the Indiana Department of Environmental Management skipped part of the required process. They say the agency never sent them a response to their e-mails, and didn't tell them the permit was issued or that they had the option to appeal it.

BP's final permit was issued on June 21. The 18-day appeal period ended Monday. * * *

IDEM's "Guide for Citizen Participation" states the agency "will" send a notice of its decision to issue a permit, along with information on how to appeal the decision, to anyone who submitted public comments. * * *

IDEM spokesperson Steve Polston said the agency also informed people who commented as it was required to do.

"Yes, we sent notices to people who asked to be notified of the final issuance of the permit," he said.

Polston said a staff person also told him, "Yes, of course, we notified the people who made comments." * * *

Tom Anderson, executive director of the Save the Dunes Council, said without IDEM's direct notification that a permit had been issued, people have no way of knowing when the appeal period starts. And Save the Dunes did not have the resources to appeal.

"We feel there are things that could have been better" in the permit, Anderson said. "My thoughts personally were, there would have been grounds to challenge them. But I also realize they can be time- and resource-intensive. We have to determine from our organization if we were equipped to do that."

Karen Willever, administrative assistant in IDEM's Office of Environmental Adjudication, said it's too late for residents to appeal the wastewater permit now. [emphasis added]

As noted earlier, this information also was not available on the designated IDEM web page.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 16, 2007 10:11 AM
Posted to Environment