Today On March 27, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, along with nine other members of the state's Congressional delegation, sent a letter to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency requesting a hearing on British Petroleum's (BP) proposal to increase production at their refinery in Whiting, Indiana.
As required under the Clean Air Act, the national EPA must approve the Whiting plant's application for higher emission levels. On March 14, Indiana held a hearing on the air permit and, last week, the EPA indicated that it sees no problem with BP's application. But Schakowsky and others want Illinois to have a voice in the process as well, considering that many of the state's residents stand to be affected by the increased pollution.
From the letter (pdf):
We request a public hearing in Illinois to discuss the permit and its potential impact on the environment. Earlier this month, Indiana held a public hearing for its residents. The people of Illinois, who will also be directly affected by the permit, have not had the opportunity to weigh in on this decision or to hear precisely how BP plans to mitigate the impacts associated with increasing production levels. We feel that this is crucial because any modification of the Whiting Refinery directly impacts Chicagoland area, which is within 20 miles of the facility.
As Chicago Public Radio reported last month, local environmentalists in Indiana were upset about the brief amount of time they had to prepare for their March 14 hearing on the air permits. If the Illinois EPA approves Schakowsky's request for a separate hearing in Chicago, it would slow down things down a bit and give those opposed to BP's proposed expansion some additional time to pour over the immense number of techinical documents involved.
The opposition to the air permits follows a lengthy battle last year over BP's attempt to increase its discharges into Lake Michigan. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management initially approved the Whiting refinery's request, but amidst protests by environmentalists and Chicago-area lawmakers, BP backtracked and announced it would stick to the original discharge levels.
Image courtesy of Dave Jordano.
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