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Thursday, July 26, 2007

Environment - More on: Details on the BP permit; more stories today

Earlier today I promised more reports of press coverage of the BP water discharge permit, but as I'm just getting back to it later in the day, a new entry is probably the best idea.

"Daniels won't budge on BP" is the headline to this story by Patrick Guinane in the NWI Times. He reported this morning:

INDIANAPOLIS | Despite intensifying pressure from environmentalists and lawmakers in neighboring states, Gov. Mitch Daniels on Wednesday declared Indiana will not retreat from its decision to allow the BP oil refinery in Whiting to release more pollutants into Lake Michigan.

A few hours before the U.S. House overwhelming approved a resolution rebuking both BP and the state, the governor was asked whether he considered the more lenient wastewater permit a done deal.

"Yes," Daniels replied. "We've checked it and rechecked it. They're in complete compliance with Indiana law, which is tougher than the federal law." * * *

After a closed-door meeting Tuesday with members of Illinois' congressional delegation, BP officials agreed to review their water treatment options and report back to lawmakers in September.

But with Daniels expressing no interest in revising the state permit, any move to impose stricter wastewater controls appears to rest with the company.

"Since it's a final permit, we no longer have a final oversight role," U.S Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman Phillippa Cannon said Wednesday. "We'd be very willing to participate in discussions if (BP officials) are willing to go beyond what the permit conditions say."

The controversy could land in the courts. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich threatened Tuesday to pursue a federal lawsuit if Indiana does not rescind the permit.

Re the U.S. House resolution, this Times report is headed "U.S. House rips BP, state." Some quotes:
WASHINGTON | The U.S. House overwhelmingly voted Wednesday to condemn Indiana's permit to allow BP to increase its Whiting Refinery's daily dumping of waste into Lake Michigan.

"This Congress will not simply stand by while our Great Lakes are treated like a dumping zone," said Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the House Democratic Conference and the bill's chief sponsor.

The resolution urges -- but does not require -- Indiana to reconsider the permit and asks that Congress take steps to protect the Great Lakes. * * *

All of Illinois' 19 House members voted in favor of the measure except Peoria Republican Ray Lahood, who was absent.

Indiana's nine-member delegation was divided along partisan lines. Four Democrats backed the resolution. One, Julia Carson, was a sponsor, but did not vote. The House Republicans from Indiana opposed the resolution.

Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., spoke in favor of the measure, citing the resources the Great Lakes provide.

"Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes grow more valuable each day, and in order to maintain and improve this important natural and global resource, it is crucial to reduce the level of pollution being discharged in them," he said on the House floor Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, an Indiana Republican, disagreed.

The text of the brief resolution is available here, on Congressman Emanuel's website. The vote, according to this story from the Gary Post-Tribune, was "387-to-26" against the permit.

The Gary Post-Tribune has an editorial that reads in part:

Although BP has put a hold on its plan to dump more waste into Lake Michigan, Indiana and Illinois officials must remain vigilant.

The company said it will wait until Sept. 1 to see if it can come up with "feasible alternatives." While we wait to see what, if anything, the company proposes, we remain firm that we must have zero tolerance for the release of any additional pollution into our precious lake. * * *

With the billions BP is spending on the refinery project, we find it hard to believe BP can't do more.

More than 100 years ago, when the Whiting refinery was built, environmental concerns took a back seat to industry. Cleaning up the pollution in our lakes and rivers has taken decades and billions of dollars, and we still have a ways to go.

Now is no time to go backward.

Mike Clark, a Times columnist, follows a similar tack:
Back in 1900, Chicago's civic leaders realized that dumping sewage and garbage and other miscellaneous crud into Lake Michigan wasn't such a good idea.

Too bad Mitch Daniels hasn't figured that out yet.

The Sanitary District of Chicago performed what was then considered an engineering miracle by reversing the flow of the Chicago River to route pollution away from Lake Michigan.

Here we are, more than a century later, and a company that was smart enough to make a profit of $6.087 billion in the second quarter of this year still can't figure out how to stop messing around with Mother Nature. * * *

Daniels justified his administration's decision by playing the old economic development card, as if it trumped everything else. In another time, it probably would have.

But we are awakening, slowly but surely, to the realization that there is only so much abuse our planet can take.

BP's argument is that the increased levels of junk being poured into the lake will remain below federal limits. That's like saying your credit's in the toilet, but you haven't filed for bankruptcy yet.

When word of BP's plan first came out, part of the rationale was that it would create 80 jobs. As everyone from Mayor Richard Daley to the Illinois congressional delegation started turning up the heat, Daniels reacted by upping the ante.

"We've got thousands of jobs that would be at risk if (the project) doesn't go forward," he said Wednesday.

Well, whether it's fourscore or four thousand, what good is it going to be if the people who hold those jobs find their health at risk because of this short-sighted move?

Someone needs to explain to BP that corporate greed and arrogance aren't in fashion anymore.

If we can change the course of the Chicago River, we should be able to do the same with Mitch Daniels' short-sighted policies.

Gitte Laasby of the Gary Post-Tribune, who has written a number of good stories on the BP issue, has another one today, looking at the economic development vs. environment issues. Some quotes:
For Illinois and Michigan residents, BP's wastewater permit is a matter of stopping increased pollution in Lake Michigan -- the source of drinking water and a destination for recreation.

It is the same for Northwest Indiana residents, too, but the issue also forces them into a larger debate about how to balance industry and environmental interests decades from now.

Gary City Council member Marilyn Krusas, D-1st, said many of her constituents feel conflicted about asking BP to do better environmentally because the company also provides jobs in their neighborhood and economic development to the region.

"Whiting should have been at the forefront. But that industry has built Whiting and provided health insurance and benefits, so how hard do you bite the hand that feeds you? It's a difficult issue," Krusas said. "We need jobs. We want to make sure the company stays and improves their operation, especially along the lakefront. It's kept the economy going in the region and the area."

Still, residents have to decide whether the jobs are worth the trade-off or whether there's another way BP can deal with the pollution, she said. * * *

Michigan City Mayor Chuck Oberlie said he agreed with Daniels' statement Wednesday that BP's permit falls within state and federal standards, but said he still thinks BP should make another attempt to avoid increasing its discharge to Lake Michigan.

"Unfortunately, government policy sometimes lags behind the desires of the public and good management practice," he said. "While it may be consistent with the current law, it's currently against the intent of (initiatives), which is to end pollution in the lakes."

Oberlie said Michigan City has spent too much money on cleaning up brownfields and eliminating sources of pollution to Lake Michigan to allow BP to increase pollution without a fight.

"For a community to make that commitment flies in contrast of a new source of pollution into the lake," he said. "The long-term risk factors. Are there going to be other companies down the line wanting to do this and are we going to say yes to them?"

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 26, 2007 06:12 PM
Posted to Environment | Indiana economic development