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Chicago Gets Googled
You may not realize it, but the Great Lakes Watershed is not only the source of all of our fresh drinking water, but it's also a political entity, protected by a group of US States and Canadian Provinces. Under the Water Resources Development Act, diversion of water from the Great Lakes basin requires the approval of all eight Great Lakes governors, something that rarely occurs.
This act, and it's ramifications, has been a point of contention at times, putting the brakes on attempts to divert water to nearby municipalities for local use, as well as inhibiting industrial uses of the water, such as bottling and manufacturing. In fact, the Great Lakes are one of the great environmental comeback stories of the 20th Century, with the return of life to such horribly polluted lakes as Erie (once known as a Dead Lake).
Unfortunately, the agreements that protect the freshwater of the Great Lakes is predicated on the governors of the eight states and 2 provinces. And in the case of Indiana's governor, Mitch Daniels, it seems that expanding the refining capacity of BP, and the revenue it will draw for the state is more important than protecting the freshwater source that many of us depend on. According to the Chicago Tribune, Indiana regulators have exempted BP from state environmental regulations so that the Whiting refinery can move forward with a $3.8 billion expansion, allowing the refining of Canadian crude oil, and paving the way for 80 more jobs. Under this new permit BP, already one of the largest polluters in the Great Lakes, will be allowed to dump 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more sludge into Lake Michigan each day, increasing the risk for algae blooms and (more) beach closings.
In response to this move (like many states, Indiana is authorized to administer the federal Clean Water Act) legislators from both sides of the aisle are pushing federal regulators to block the expansion of the refinery. "We need to embarrass the BP leadership to do the right thing," U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) said Tuesday on WGN radio's "The Spike O'Dell Show." "In my book, BP, which tries to market itself as an environmentally friendly company, now stands for 'Bad Pollution.'"
We think this story is so utterly fucked up, it stands on it's own, so we're reserving comment until both Congress and federal regulators have their final say. The City of Chicago and the Park District are planning to pass petitions at beaches this weekendWe hope you'll have your say on this matter, too.
Image via NorthwestIndiana.com
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Where is Dan Quayle when we need him? This expansion is not small potatos.
"It isn’t pollution that’s harming the environment. It’s the impurities in our air and water that are doing it." -- Vice President Dan Quayle
Federal regulators under the current administration aren't going to do shit. I couldn't believe this news when I heard it. Fuck you, Indiana.
"governors of the eight states and 2 provinces."
FYI, provinces have 'Premiers'
Now when you see those BP "we are being so green" ads, you will know they are utter bullshit.
The people/groups who proclaim the loudest they are being green usually are not.
I can't believe we, as a society, are still so stupid about the environment that we would allow this (and yes, we do allow it, because we elect the people who make the rules and appoint the regulators).
This is bullshit - millions of people in two countries have to put up with a tainted water supply and polluted lakes and habitats so that BP can get richer and Mitch Daniels can brag about bringing 80 jobs to Indiana.
Thanks for writing about this I was going to suggest. The word really needs to get out. This is fucked!
Yet another reason why you shouldn't swim in Lake Michigan, if the fact that Gary backs their sewers up into the lake when it rains wasn't enough.
80 jobs. $3.8 billion expansion creates 80 jobs? i freaking hate Indiana for so many other reasons, add this one to the list.
The southern coast of Lake Michigan is already damaged goods from the oil and steel industry. Several beaches in the area are littered with dead fish. NW Indiana needs more casinos and less factories.
The best(worst) part of this is.. BP wants to refine canadian crude so they can reduce dependency and lower gas prices a few cents a gallon in the midwest. What actually happens is the prices will remain up because the gas stations are allowed to fluctuate prices as much as 20 cents a day (6% on $3.30/gal). Its the most redonkulous part of the supply/demand economics of gasoline, and people are stupid enough to vote for this.
It is important to point out that Rep. Mark Kirk is a bum when it comes to environmental issues.
He has voted for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
He supported H.R. 4241, which authorized a massive sell-off of public lands to corporations like BP.
He voted for weakening clean air rules evident in H.R.3893.
He has also supported the Bush Administration's politicization of scientific evidence.
When you hear stories like this it doesn't give you any hope for humanity.
How much pollution are we really talking about here? 53% is pretty meaningless since it is a relative amount. Are they currently dumping ten ounces of ammonia or ten million gallons?
Or am I being insane by expecting anything but agitprop here?
Just couldn't trouble yourself to click on the link, eh Guest13? I love it when people pretend to be curious.
From the Trib article:
"The company will now be allowed to dump an average of 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 pounds of sludge into Lake Michigan every day."
Rather than lose hope in humanity or devolve into hopelessness, I would suggest that you call your elected officials and encourage them to take steps at the federal level to stop Mitch Danials.
Sen. Dick Lugar seems to be opposed to this, and could probably use a little prodding on the issue. Rep. Pete Visclosky could also stand to hear from you, especially if you live in his district.
If you click the last link in this post, you can contact your elected officials.
Hey BP overthrew a democratically elected government in Iran and with the CIA's help installed a dictator who's ill treatment of the citizens helped eventually bring about the Islamic Revolution. We can all thank them for that too! Thanks BP! But that's just one example of many f'd up things they've done. Seriously when it comes to evil on a global scale it's hard to beat these assholes. So yeah, we kneel before you BP, put whatever you want into our lake and water supply.
Kirk is an advocate for the environment especially Lake Michigan - he got the federal dollars need to clean up Waukegan Harbor, worked to get the navy to provide acres of lake front open space and recently introduced bi-partisan legislation with Rep. Lipinski to ban dumping in the Lake. There is a petition to the BP president against the dumping on his website:
http://kirkforcongress.com/petition1/
Go there and sign it.
This is so great. Now my gas will be a five cents cheaper.
Hey Chicagoist,
you first have a post on this, and then you carry
an ad from BP ? I hope you give the money from that
ad to the Park District instead.......
A reader
Surely there is more to this story than we are being told.
One of the things that is strikingly absent is a call for people to reduce their dependence on oil.
Stop driving your cars. And anyone in Chicago who has their air conditioning on today (73 degrees outside) should have to go swim to the Whiting refinery to lodge their own personal complaint.
It's a bit like complaining to the butcher for killing the cows when we wanted milk and then ordering a steak!!!
Guest # 19: I believe that the advertising policy at Chicagoist is much like that at The Nation: if you're willing to pay for it, we're willing to publish it. So, while we may disapprove, or even feel repulsed by, the political views of some of our advertisers, we generally won't ban them from advertising with us. But we do reserve the right to attack them in our our columns. I'd like to believe that our readers are smart enough to read what's presented to them and draw their own conclusions with out Chicagoist acting as some sort of opinion filter.
revitch: David Kalbfleisch, Green Party candidate for U.S. House, IL-10, had this to say about Kirk's opposition: “I disagree with the ‘not in my backyard’ mentality because it doesn’t solve the problem. If BP doesn’t dump its waste in Lake Michigan, it will just dump it somewhere else. Rather than appropriating substantial funds to develop clean energy sources like solar and wind — the real solution — Rep. Kirk votes to continue to squander hundreds of billions of dollars waging war against a weak country that was never any threat to our national security. That is not my idea of fiscally conservative legislation or responsible environmentalism with a focus on long term sustainability.”
Not the best answer I've ever read, but still a pretty good critique of the larger hypocrisy of the NIMBY approach.
Solar power and wind are not going to propel your automobile.
There are already experimental (a.k.a. not yet commerically viable) solar powered cars that can sustain 40 mph, and there are high speed trains in Europe and Japan that are partially powered by solor energy.
Restructuring our society to use mass transit and be less dependent on automobiles is also part of the solution.
If you want to use fossil fuels, you are going to have to live with the negative consequences. It's that simple.
www.electdave.org
You write an article like this, but you sure love that BP Banner Money don't you Chicagoist
Elect Dave, you and I both know the chances of our society switching over to 40 mph solar cars is zero. Why even bring it up?
"Elect Dave, you and I both know the chances of our society switching over to 40 mph solar cars is zero. Why even bring it up?"
Yes but we have the technology of fully electric plug in car but GM killed it. Its zero-emissions. And if we get renewable energy like wind and solar to make electricity then we'd have less CO2 emissions/pollution.
I'd suggest you watch the film "Who Killed The Electric Car." It's a good watch.