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Thursday, July 02, 2009

Environment - More on "Federal judge won't block BP refinery expansion"

Updating yesterday's ILB entry, Gitte Laasby of the Gary Post-Tribune has this story today. Here is a quote:

U.S. District Court Judge Philip Simon, sitting in Hammond, dismissed the case Friday, stating the NRDC's federal case is "nearly identical" to three appeals filed in state court by other environmental groups, some of whom are represented by NRDC attorneys. He said the approach "smells fishy" and called it a "divide and conquer

"A cynic might conclude that the NRDC and its colleagues at the Sierra Club were trying to fight the war on two fronts," Simon stated in his ruling.

He added the state cases are further along and judges at the state Office of Environmental Adjudication have more expertise in reviewing IDEM permit decisions.

The NRDC had argued that BP violated the Clean Air Act by not obtaining the right type of permit. The group said BP's modifications would result in increased emissions of various hazardous pollutants and that IDEM was duped into giving BP the wrong permit because BP underestimated emissions from the expanded refinery.

"The NRDC thinks the IDEM got the call wrong. It may have. But the proper remedy is through the Indiana regulatory and state court process," Simon wrote. "What is the point of having an expert agency appeals process -- or a state court appeals process -- if litigants can simply side-step it by turning to federal courts?"

The P-T also provides a link to Judge Simon's June 26, 2009, 32-page opinion

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 2, 2009 09:43 AM
Posted to Environment | Ind Fed D.Ct. Decisions