BP America’s pollution plans for Lake Michigan abandoned

After weeks of objections from environmentalists and politicians, BP America announced Thursday it will not increase its ammonia and suspended solids pollution in Lake Michigan.\nInstead, the company said it will work over the next 18 months to seek technological solutions so it can move ahead with plans to expand its Whiting, Ind. oil refinery, – just east of Chicago – without increasing the amount of ammonia and suspended solids it dumps into the Great Lakes.\n“We are committed to this project,” said Robert Malone, BP America chairman and president. “It is important for the nation, it is important for the Midwest and it is important to BP and to the thousands of BP employees in the state of Indiana. We are going to work hard to make this project succeed.”\nContention arose in May when BP was granted a permit by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management allowing it to dump 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more suspended particles. \nAccording to company representatives, the increased dumping was necessary for an expansion that would allow \nthe company to process 60 percent more Canadian crude oil. BP officials have lauded Canadian oil as a more sustainable fuel source.\n“We have ... obtained a valid permit that meets all regulatory standards and is protective of water quality and human health,” Malone said. “Even so, ongoing regional opposition to any increase in discharge permit limits for Lake Michigan creates an unacceptable level of business risk for this $3.8-billion investment.”\nGov. Mitch Daniels has been a vocal advocate to allow BP’s permit, calling it a transparent and legitimate process.\n“BP made a difficult business decision, one that means this project may not happen or be moved to another state,” Daniels said in a statement. “I hope, along with everyone else, that someone discovers a new technology in the next year or so that enables BP to move ahead, meaning Hoosiers would get the benefits of this enormous investment – at the job site and the gas pump.”\nBill Jones, an IU professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs who specializes in limnology – the study of lakes and freshwater – said that suspended solids can make water systems cloudier, blocking out crucial light sources for fish and plants. But he said the levels granted by BP’s permit are allowed by Environmental Protection Agency standards.\nThe greater concern is uneven distribution levels that can occur when a company discharges pollutants in one area. The pollutants may not be properly diluted in the rest of the lake, possibly raising concentration levels and making the safety of the water unclear. \nDaniels emphasized that the levels permitted are within EPA requirements. \n“There would be absolutely no detectable difference in the water quality of Lake Michigan, but if public confidence were strengthened, that would be a plus,” Daniels said in the statement. “For now, let’s hope this quiets the hypocrisy of politicians elsewhere whose states dump vastly greater amounts of effluent in the Great Lakes and other bodies of water.”\n- The Associated Press contributed to this report.