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Thursday, May 08, 2008
Environment - Dangers in commencing construction before permit is final
Gitte Laasby of the Gary Post Tribune reports today:
BP could be forced to stop, alter or tear down construction on its modernized Whiting refinery if its newly issued air permit construction approval is appealed.BP started construction when it received approval from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management on May 1. But appeals can be submitted until May 19.
Ann Alexander, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said environmentalists continue to weigh their options.
"BP is clearly taking a risk in commencing construction that their permit could be overturned," Alexander said.
If a judge grants a "stay" to halt construction, construction may have to be stopped. If the permit is modified as a result of an appeal, construction may have to be modified, too. If the permit is revoked, new construction may have to be torn down, Indiana's chief environmental law judge said.
"If the enterprise gets a permit and ultimately it is not approved, they run the risk of mitigation," said Mary Davidsen, chief environmental law judge with the Office of Environmental Adjudication, which could hear a state appeal case. "Someone goes ahead and builds, that's the risk they take. Maybe they build a certain way and the permit finds it should have been built in a different way."
BP is confident the permit will stand.
"Our air construction permit is valid; the permit underwent a thorough and rigorous review, and we believe it will stand up to scrutiny," BP spokeswoman Valerie Corr said in an e-mail.
According to Indiana law, a judge can issue a stay if the appellant will "suffer irreparable harm," if the appellant is likely to win a court case, if injury to the appellant outweighs potential harm to BP, or if it serves the public interest.
Interested local residents received notice Monday from IDEM that it issued the permit, but found it frustrating to have less than two weeks to appeal.
"I received the letter May 5 which is dated May 1, so they are actually giving me (and everyone else) 13 days to respond," Highland resident Susan Eleuterio said in an e-mail. "I find it amazing that the department which is supposed to represent the citizens of Indiana gives them less than two weeks to respond to a decision that affects the very air they breathe."
Davidsen said the 18-day deadline for appeals is according to law and that she has little authority to change it.
"We don't have a right to alter that," Davidsen said, but, "There's always a chance to ask those who make those rules to change them."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 8, 2008 10:49 AM
Posted to Environment