New BP Challenge -- Illinois & Environmentalists Fight BP Air Emissions

Just when it seemed that protests over plans by BP America to increase waste emissions into Lake Michigan had ended comes news that environmentalists and Illinois officials are challenging British Petroleum's variances and air emissions permits.

Writes Christine Kraly of the Northwest Indiana Times:

The charge comes from Illinois officials and environmental groups that Indiana regulators let the company bypass federal pollution rules. It's the second petition in the last month filed with the Indiana Office of Environmental Adjudication regarding decisions made about BP's Whiting plant.

...

The Illinois-based petitioners say BP didn't adequately prove it deserved an exception, granted by IDEM, to its air emissions limits of particulate matter, or small particles and liquid composed of chemicals, metals and dust.

...

In its request for the variance, BP said complying with the adjusted limits would "impose an extreme hardship on BP" because compliance "is neither technically nor economically feasible."

British Petroleum BP America BP Amoco air emissions Pollution environment IDEM

On The Day Illinois Leaders Save The Lake ...

The Indiana Dunes
and Lake Michigan

On the same day I received an email from Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel reporting that BP backed down from plans to dump additional ammonia and other solids into Lake Michigan --

We must continue to fight to not just protect the Lakes, but also to improve their environmental health. While we keep working with our colleagues in Washington to restore the Great Lakes we need you to continue to join us in our fight.

Today we saw that real change is possible, and the agent of change was you. Thank you for your dedication to making sure that our Lakes are protected for future generations.

-- comes a report from Frugal Hoosiers that the city of Chicago dumped a bunch of raw sewage into the lake.

If you were one of those people who thought it was more than a little hypocritical for all those Chicago politicians (Rahm, Kirk, Durbin, Daley, et al) to be criticizing the BP permit while Illinois companies had been and continue to dump far more waste into Lake Michigan, you are not alone. So from now on, we’ll be sure to keep you up to date with stories like this.

“Thursday's deluge forced the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District to open locks on the North Shore Channel in Wilmette, allowing millions of gallons of raw and partially treated sewage to flow into Lake Michigan.

We need to make sure that our dedication to keeping Lake Michigan doesn't end when the issues aren't as sexy as those surrounding the BP America debate and that our resolve to protect Lake Michigan remains true even when it involves mundane issues such as cities dumping raw sewage into our water supply.

Lake+Michigan Chicago Pollution Sen.+Dick+Durbin Rep.+Rahm+Emanuel