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Thursday, August 09, 2007

Environment - NW Indiana pollution update

"Pollution permits may spur activism" is the headline to this story today by Gitte Laasby of the Gary Post-Tribune. Some quotes:

Local concerned residents and long-term environmentalists came together Wednesday night in Gary to kick off what they call "a grass roots democratic push for public awareness and administrative accountability."

Karen Kroczek, a Munster resident and member of the League of Women Voters, organized the meeting of residents to formulate comments to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's proposed wastewater permit for U.S. Steel Gary Works. But the citizen activism may evolve and persist well after the permit is issued.

"I see a lot of promise for future organization and environmental activism. These people felt empowered, focused and they were certainly informed," Kroczek said. "There's nothing official about us. We're just an ad hoc citizens group concerned about how IDEM's administering these resources."

Many attendees had never been involved with environmental issues before, but became interested after hearing about wastewater permits for BP Whiting and U.S. Steel.

"Everybody's got to know right now what's happening," said Edward Landmichl, a Chicago resident and long-term environmental activist. "We want change. We don't want pollution in the lake!" * * *

Tom Sourlis of Highland said outrage over industrial pollution in Lake Michigan compelled him to attend.

"It's an outrage they should dump this filth into a body of water. They say it's going to cost money (to treat the water). It's going to create jobs. What it's going to cost is profits. The company made $440 million a day. You tell me they don't have the money to deal with it?" Sourlis said.

He said he blames IDEM and Indiana laws for additional pollution as much as industries, but found the meeting useful.

"This group is fabulous. This educated us. I believe this could be the start of something that continues," he said.

The group felt encouraged after IDEM announced Wednesday afternoon that it has extended the public comment period on U.S. Steel's wastewater permit.

By requests from the public, the deadline previously set for Saturday was extended to Monday, Oct. 1.

State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Portage, attended the meeting to teach a break-out group what she called "Permitting 101" -- background about the Clean Water Act and how standards are applied -- and discuss whether the limits are still appropriate.

"The legislators, IDEM, all of those, listen to grass roots, contacts and harassment," she told attendees. "Send us your e-mails. I get a sheet every time someone calls. When the sheets start stacking up, we take action."

Earlier Wednesday, Tallian said she asked IDEM Commissioner Thomas Easterly for a 60-day extension of the public comment period.

"We should learn a lesson from the public outcry engendered by the BP permit process. People feel that they were not informed and that they had no opportunity for input. In view of the fact that this application for renewal is several years behind schedule, I do not see a reason why another 60 days would be harmful," Tallian said in a statement. "The outcry over the BP permit was in part due to misinformation. IDEM should do everything possible to ensure that the public feels they had an opportunity for input."

The citizens group signed petitions asking IDEM to hold another public meeting on U.S. Steel's permit. An IDEM spokesman said IDEM had not yet made a decision about that.

Kroczek said the citizen group will most likely meet again within the next two or three weeks.

The NWI Times also has a story about the meeting, by Kass Stone. Some quotes:
GARY | The Indiana Department of Environmental Management's highly controversial wastewater permit change for BP's Whiting Refinery has galvanized local environmental activists.

An effort to organize various environmental organizations in Northwest Indiana and concerned residents kicked off Wednesday with a public meeting at the W.E.B. DuBois branch of the Gary Public Library.

Organized by Munster resident Karen Kroczek, the meeting attracted a number of different organizations, ranging from environmentalists such as the Save the Dunes Council to anti-war group Code Pink. The meeting centered around renewal U.S. Steel Gary Works' wastewater discharge permit.

Kroczek, a member of the Northwest Indiana Coalition Against the Iraq War, began by announcing IDEM had extended the public comment portion for the permit by 60 days.

"This is our land. This is our water. This is our air, and we need to have meaningful input in what is done to them," Kroczek said.

State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, and state Rep. Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, addressed those in attendance. Pelath promised to convene a hearing on the IDEM permit process Aug. 22 at the state Capitol.

While the immediate focus is on the U.S. Steel permit, the overall goal of the meeting, Kroczek said, is to create a unified movement that will be able to influence IDEM's decisions.

"BP variance awaits public hearing date" to this headline to another story today by Gitte Laasby of the P-T. Some quotes:
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management still plans to reschedule a public hearing on a commissioner's order accompanying a variance the agency issued to BP Whiting.

The variance allows BP to exceed its current permit limits for the amount of tiny particles the company can emit into the air in Lake County. * * *

IDEM has not announced a new date for the hearing, but said in a statement that the agency will provide "appropriate public notice announcing a written comment period and a new hearing date and location."

Officials said they postponed the hearing scheduled for Aug. 9 in Merrillville because people were confused about the subject matter.

Some people thought the hearing was about BP's air permit. IDEM has not yet put out an air permit for public comment because the agency is still reviewing BP's application. [Emphasis added by ILB]

The question here would be, whose fault is it that "people were confused"? With the BP NPDES permit, it appears from earlier stories that IDEM did, at most, the barest minimum to inform the public.

The Indianapolis Star today has a strong editorial that states its position as: "Indiana should listen to its neighbors about the BP permit.." It begins:

With water bidding strongly to usurp oil as the fluid of contention for the 21st-century world, it is no small irony that the two are having a hard time mixing at the far northwest end of Indiana.

Leaders and many residents of Illinois and Michigan are fighting mad over the Daniels administration's unilateral decision to allow BP America to increase pollution of Lake Michigan in the process of expanding its Whiting Refinery.

It means jobs and maybe cheaper gasoline, the governor says. It will not harm the water, say Indiana officials, BP representatives and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

It is below federal limits for discharges of ammonia and suspended solids. But under the permit Indiana has issued for the $3.8 billion expansion of the refinery, BP could still release up to 1,584 pounds of ammonia into the lake every day, an increase of 54 percent; and nearly 5,000 pounds of suspended solids, a 35 percent increase.

In sufficient quantities, this is harmful stuff. So is mercury, which the permit does not limit immediately but is supposed to restrict eventually.

Is it any wonder that the governor of Illinois is threatening to sue Indiana over its treatment of a shared body of water? Is it any wonder the U.S. House overwhelmingly approved a nonbinding resolution against the terms of the permit?

Recent history is significant here. National and regional concern about both depletion and degradation of the Great Lakes has spurred urgent cleanup and management efforts involving remarkable coalitions of normally competing interests -- states, environmentalists, industry. * * *

Can the "green BP" of its lavish advertising truly not do any better? If not, are 80 permanent jobs and 2,000 or so temporary construction jobs worth the risk of contaminating a major source of drinking water and magnet for tourism? For that matter, is the pump price of gasoline really a compelling issue, as Daniels stated in his defense of the deal?

These and other interesting questions ought to be kicked around by the governor's people and fellow users of Lake Michigan while there's still time to reconsider permits and keep neighborly business out of court. The future health of the environment and its inhabitants will not respect state lines, and visionary leaders know when to cross them.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 9, 2007 12:05 PM
Posted to Environment