The Chicago Tribune website has been a daily read of mine for many years now, especially since I’ve stopped subscribing to print media almost entirely. Anyway, a couple weeks ago, the Trib ran a story by Michael Hawthorn alleging that energy giant BP is “planning to dump significantly more ammonia and industrial sludge into Lake Michigan” from their Whiting, Ind. refinery, and that the increase is being facilitated by federal and state regulators. This, of course, would be a major concern to people in the Chicagoland area since our drinking water comes from the lake.
Well, I recently had an opportunity to dig a bit deeper into the story and found that Hawthorn’s article didn’t present the whole picture. First of all, one of the most glaring errors I noted was how Hawthorn wrote that BP releases sludge directly into Lake Michigan. But BP emphatically denies this claim, and maintains that what they release into the lake is, in fact, treated water that is 99.99% water. Sludge is handled separately, is treated according to strict state and federal guidelines, and is never released into the lake.
Second, Hawthorn quotes someone from the Alliance for the Great Lakes group who says that BP should use some of their profits to help protect the lakes. The implication from this quote is that BP currently does nothing to that effect and doesn’t plan to do anything in the future. Again, this is just plain wrong. BP is going to spend $150 million to improve their wastewater treatment capabilities at the Whiting refinery, which will ultimately benefit Lake Michigan in the form of purer discharge. Furthermore, BP is always working with government and community organizations to come up with plans that help the environment.
And finally, the whole tone of Hawthorn’s article made it sound as though he suspects BP is trying to get away with something, as though their business dealings aren’t altogether on the up-and-up. But again, I have to disagree with this insinuation because I read that BP voluntarily strives to exceed state and federal guidelines in terms of suspended solids in its water discharge.
It seems to me that the Hawthorn story skewed the facts quite a bit, and that’s a disservice to everyone in the community. I invite you to read both sides of the issue and decide for yourself.
You can find the full Tribune article here, and then compare it to the BP Whiting Fact Sheet.