Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) released the following statement today on H.Con.Res. 187, a resolution expressing Congress’ disapproval of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s issuance of a permit allowing BP to increase the discharge of ammonia and other solids into the Great Lakes. This resolution passed the House by a vote of 387-26, and has been sent to the Senate for further consideration.
“Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the resolution before us. Recently, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management granted BP’s Whiting refinery in Indiana broad exceptions under the Clean Water Act. These exemptions will allow BP to increase the amount of discharge of ammonia by 54 percent and its discharge of total suspended solids by 35 percent. This means that an additional 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 pounds of total suspended solids could be dumped into Lake Michigan.
“This is simply unacceptable and I thank my colleagues from Illinois and Michigan for bringing the resolution to the floor with the utmost speed.
“I am dismayed, Mr. Speaker. Dismayed that the State of Indiana issued the permits and further dismayed EPA allowed the State to do so.
“Algae blooms, Mr. Speaker, are serious business. Algae blooms, which can be caused by ammonia and total suspended solids, overtake native ecosystems by taking nutrients away from the surrounding plant life and also feed harmful bacteria which remove oxygen, killing aquatic life. This leads to poor water quality and beach closings. Instead of taking action to increase algae blooms, we should be taking action to decease them.
“According to BP, the company intends to install a diffuser to create a “mixing zone” – mixing zones are areas where clean water gets mixed with polluted water to further dilute the concentration of pollutants. In 2000, EPA instituted a rule requiring the elimination of existing mixing zones for persistent and bioaccumulative pollution in all the Great Lakes states. The rule required the phase-out of current mixi ng zones by 2010 and does not allow any new zones to be created. The expansion of the BP facility is not scheduled to be finished until 2011. The exemptions essentially roll back the clock for sound environmental policy.
“Mr. Speaker, those of us from the region have a unique appreciation for the Great Lakes, as we are quite literally surrounded by them. The Lakes are a blessing to us. We owe our tourism industry to the Great Lakes – where people come from around the country to recreate, hunt, fish and rela x. The Lakes as a transportation system provided Michigan and the surrounding states with the means to turn our region into a manufacturing powerhouse.
“At a time when Congress is finally taking a long-overdue look into a broad restoration and conservation plan for the Great Lakes, the State of Indiana is allowing more pollution into the Lakes. And EPA – the lead Agency in Great Lakes Regional Collaboration – is allowing it. This, Mr. Speaker is exactly the opposite of what we should be doing. Instead, restoring and protecting the Great Lakes must be a priority.
“I urge all of my colleagues to support the resolution and again thank my friends the gentleman from Illinois and the gentleman from Michigan for bringing it up.”
