Read more: Local, State, Environment
STUPAK, COLLEAGUES REQUEST EPA REVIEW OF ALL BP POLLUTION DISCHARGES IN GREAT LAKES BASIN
WASHINGTON – U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) joined with 17 of his colleagues representing the Great Lakes region in requesting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conduct a comprehensive review of all pollution discharges at all British Petroleum (BP) refining facilities in the Great Lakes basin. The request comes following reports that on June 2, 2009 BP acknowledged violating federal pollution limits on benzene at its Whiting, Indiana refinery for the past six years.
“Our Great Lakes are relied upon by 45 million people every day for drinking water, jobs, recreation and commerce,” Stupak said. “The quality of Great Lakes water is a critical economic issue for the entire region. Companies such as BP that operate in the Great Lakes basin have a responsibility to ensure they are in compliance with all state and federal laws to protect our water, a responsibility BP has failed to meet.”
BP’s Whiting, Indiana refinery is the largest oil refinery in the Midwest and a large source of pollution in the Great Lakes basin. The EPA has raised concerns with the refinery since 2007, when Indiana allowed BP to increase pollution discharges into the Great Lakes. At the urging of Stupak and other members of Congress, the company agreed to delay plans to increase dumping into Lake Michigan. Stupak, as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, has investigated BP activities in Alaska and Texas, and will continue to monitor EPA progress in reviewing BP pollution discharges in the Great Lakes basin.
“While I was pleased with BP’s announcement in 2007 to explore alternative plans for increasing pollution discharges into Lake Michigan, this latest development is troubling,” Stupak said. “For six years excessive releases of the highly toxic chemical benzene have put the health of the Great Lakes and the people who rely upon them in jeopardy. There is no excuse for putting air and water quality as well as public health at risk, particularly for a company with the financial resources of BP.”
Stupak has made Great Lakes and water issues among his top priorities in Congress. Michigan’s First Congressional District, which Stupak represents, has more shoreline – 1,613 miles – than any other congressional district in the continental United States and is the nation’s only congressional district to border three of the five Great Lakes.
