August 23, 2007
"BP backs down on dumping"
Rather than give you the usual point by point, let's just rewrite this one, shall we? Here's the story, as it should have been written, without the spin or the bias:
BP Promises to Meet Lower Limits Than Required
By Rich Trzupek
Responding to firestorm of criticism, BP formalized what has been standard environmental practice into a promise, announcing that it won�t dump more pollution into Lake Michigan.
The oil giant pledged to meet its existing permit limits, rather than adhere to the slightly more lenient state and federal standards contained in its new National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) wastewater discharge permit.
�We will not make use of the higher discharge limits in our new permit,� BP American Chairman and President Bob Malone said in statement posted on the company�s web site. �We�re not aware of any technology that will get us to those limits but we�ll work to develop a project that allows us to do so.�
Malone�s statement is consistent with the company�s previous assertions that it would rarely, if ever, need to take advantage of the maximum daily discharge limits allowed under the NPDES program. That is consistent with standard environmental practice.
The maximum discharge limit is normally only employed in the case of extreme stormwater events that swamp treatment plant capacity. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District�s Calumet treatment plant, for example, is permitted to discharge up to 89,655 pounds per day of solids, but the plant�s average daily discharge of solids last year was 12,124 pounds.
Supporters of project said that BP�s proposed maximum discharge limits were insignificant compared to other sources of ammonia and solids in Lake Michigan. Pointing to hundreds of thousands of pounds generated by other industrial and natural sources each day, they claimed that BP�s maximum discharge of 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 pounds of solids would not affect water quality.
Opponents said that no increase, of any size, should be tolerated and claimed that BP�s project could endanger drinking water in the region.
Ammonia, if discharged in high enough concentrations, can cause algae blooms at the point of discharge. However, experts agree that the maximum ammonia concentration proposed in BP�s discharge, 9 ppm, would not be nearly enough to pose a threat.
BP�s solids are comprised primarily of chloride and sulfate salts. Critics frequently characterized these solids as �toxic� due to trace concentrations of heavy metals in the solids. Supporters of the project maintained that many of these heavy metals can be found in naturally-occurring sediment in similar concentrations and that BP�s discharge, which is over 99.9% water, is cleaner than well water in some parts of the country.
The oil giant has agreed to pursue a variety of research initiatives with third parties in order to further reduce the concentrations of ammonia and solids in its effluent. The company plans to provide Purdue University with a $5 million grant to help improve wastewater treatment, for example.
In announcing plans to move forward, Malone said that BP had faithfully fulfilled its federal and state obligations, but was willing to move a step beyond those requirements in order to safeguard a project that would increase domestic energy production.
"We have participated in an open and transparent permitting process with the State of Indiana and obtained a valid permit that meets all regulatory standards and is protective of water quality and human health,� he said. �Even so, ongoing regional opposition to any increase in discharge permit limits for Lake Michigan creates an unacceptable level of business risk for this $3.8 billion investment."
