Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Legal Sludge Dumping in Lake Michigan

It was reported on Sunday, July 15, 2007 by Michael Hawthorne of the Chicago Tribune, a Tribune staff reporter, that the “The massive BP oil refinery in Whiting, Ind., is planning to dump significantly more ammonia and industrial sludge into Lake Michigan, running counter to years of efforts to clean up the Great Lakes.”

It was further reported that BP company officials insisted they did everything they could to keep more pollution out of the lake. "It's important for us to get our product to market with minimal environmental impact," said Tom Keilman, a BP spokesman. "We've taken a number of steps to improve our water treatment and meet our commitments to environmental stewardship."

The Tribune article related that “BP can process more than 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily at the plant, which was built in 1889 by John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Co. Total production is expected to grow by 15 percent by the time the expansion project is finished in 2011.”

Other interesting statistics presented included:

Maximum dumping allowed by Federal Law into Lake Michigan is 1,584 pounds of ammonia per day and 4,925 pounds of sludge per day.

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