BP: We Spilled More Oil In Lake Michigan Than We Originally Said

By Chuck Sudo in News on Mar 28, 2014 2:00PM

(BP Oil Spill Into Lake Michigan Screengrab from NBC Chicago)

BP on Thursday raised the estimate of crude oil the petroleum giant spilled into Lake Michigan from its Whiting, Ind. refinery earlier this week. The company said in a statement they now estimated 1,638 gallons of crude—the equivalent of 39 barrels—made its way into Lake Michigan.

BP arrived at that number based on the amount of oil collected by absorbent booms used to contain the spill, vacuum trucks used to collect oil at the shoreline, and an inventory of waxy balls of oil cleanup crews discovered on a beach on the refinery's property. The new estimate is more than double the original amount BP claimed leaked into Lake Michigan Monday from a fault in a new distillation unit.

Most of the oil spilled into the lake appears to have been pushed by strong winds toward cove located between the refinery and a steel mill owned by ArcelorMittal. Officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency say the spill poses no long-term threat to Lake Michigan and there have been no signs the oil has spread past the refinery.

Still, politicians want answers as to why this happened. U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk want to meet with BP CEO John Minge to discuss the possible environmental and health risks to the area from the spill. Mayor Rahm Emanuel asked for a full report on the spill to be handed over to the city and the Illinois EPA.

Speaking at a news conference Wednesday announcing a $671 million plan to modernize the city's water infrastructure, Emanuel said:

“I’ll expect a full accounting to the public and the city of Chicago of the damage that was done, how much, what the clean up efforts were, how comprehensive they have been and what actions the company will take to ensure this doesn’t happen again."