Hoosiers call for tighter pollution control for BP's Lake Michigan refinery permit

Indianapolis Star

a day ago

The diesel-like smell sometimes rising off Lake Michigan near BP's oil refinery in Whiting gets so bad that surfer Mike Calabro and his girlfriend suffer headaches and need to get out of the water for relief.
Growing up in Whiting, Calabro learned how to surf at the beach next to the refinery. He lives in Chicago now but still makes the 40-minute drive down to his old stomping grounds to hit the waves.
Calabro is among a large group of environmental advocates saying Indiana regulators are failing their duty to protect the water quality of Lake Michigan by ignoring pollutants coming from BP's refinery and letting the company release excess mercury into the lake.
Lake Michigan's ecosystems are threatened by the pollution coming from the refinery, the groups say, and the wildlife — including migratory birds and bald eagles nesting in the area — face toxic consequences.
The groups are now calling for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to revise BP's application for its pollution discharge permit, known as an NPDES, which is renewed every five years.
BP is in the process of renewing its five-year permit and is waiting for IDEM to issue the final permit detailing the parameters for each pollutant the refinery discharges.
The company "is committed to safe and compliant operations at the Whiting Refinery and across our global operations," spokesperson Cesar Rodriquez wrote in an email to IndyStar. "We will continue working every day to keep this commitment and to ensure the refinery remains an important part of the Northwest Indiana economy for years to come."
Rob Michaels, a senior attorney with the Environmental Law & Policy Center and part of the cohort wanting changes to the permit, said IDEM is obligated to protect water quality — and Lake Michigan in particular — but there are numerous ways the current permit fails to meet that objective.
One of the biggest failures is the numerous pollutants IDEM should have previously limited in BP's discharges, Michaels said.
The list of these chemicals the groups claim IDEM has ignored is long, but some of the more worrying pollutants include PFAS, known as forever chemicals, and BTEX, which are a group of chemicals found in the oil and gas industry. Both are found to be harmful to human health. One of the BTEX pollutants, benzene, is known to cause anemia and an increased risk of cancer, according to the U.S. EPA.
Meg Parish, with the Environmental Integrity Project, said BTEX chemicals are 'really dangerous to people at very small levels.'
'EPA did a big study on oil refineries in 2019 and said these (chemicals) are something we should be concerned about and yet Indiana didn't even consider it,' Parish said. 'They ignored it completely.'
IDEM spokesperson Barry Sneed told IndyStar the department will provide full responses to concerns about BP's permit when a final decision is made.
'If any potential permitting discrepancies are raised during the public comment period, IDEM will thoroughly evaluate and address them before making a final decision,' Sneed wrote in an email to IndyStar.
One area of the permit the groups are adamant needs to be reevaluated is an exception to how much mercury BP is allowed to release.
IDEM has issued the company what is known as a streamlined mercury variance for the past 12 years. This variance allows BP to release more mercury than the established safe water quality standard for Lake Michigan. The exception allows BP to discharge about five times more mercury than normally allowed.
Susan Thomas, with Just Transition Northwest Indiana, called the mercury situation at BP 'egregious.'
'They've had years to remedy this situation, and they have not,' Thomas said. 'They have been given a pass all of these years by IDEM.'
The group's comment letter sent to IDEM says BP has had since 2012 to come into compliance with the mercury standards for Lake Michigan to protect the ecosystem and human health but has instead 'avoided installing the treatment needed …'
Calabro, the Lake Michigan surfer, is part of a group called SurfRider Foundation that helps protect coastal areas. Sarah Damron oversees many of the group's chapters in the Great Lakes.
Surfers are often the canaries in the coal mine when it comes to coastal water pollution since they're out in the water and exposed to the contaminants, Damron said. The mercury variance is also one of the surfing group's main concerns.
'To just continue to allow a variance as opposed to strengthening the requirements over time so they are able to meet the standards set by the state is not in the best interest of public health and wellbeing,' Damron said.
The outfalls where BP discharges its pollutants are close to the area where people like Calabro use the lake for recreation. People are fed up with the situation, Just Transition's Thomas said.
'How much more can the frontline communities take?' Thomas said. 'If you stand outside in Whiting, your throat can start to burn, your eyes tear up and you can get heart palpitations. These communities are called sacrifice zones are deserve extreme consideration.'
IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.