1. Mlive.com's Printer-Friendly Page Page 1 of 2
BP says it won't increase discharge into Lake Michigan
8/23/2007, 10:04 p.m. ET
By TOM COYNE
The Associated Press
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — BP's slogan is quot;Beyond Petroleum.quot; On Thursday, it was trying to get beyond
pollution.
The oil giant that changed its logo from a shield to a flowerlike sunburst, part of a move to position itself as
an environmentally friendly oil company, announced Thursday that it was abandoning plans to discharge
more pollution from its northwest Indiana refinery into Lake Michigan.
BP officials denied the company was succumbing to intense public and political pressure — largely from
Illinois environmental groups and politicians, including Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley — instead saying
they changed their minds because of quot;regulatory uncertainty.quot;
quot;We have made this decision because this project requires regulatory certainty,quot; said Bob Malone, BP
America chairman and president.
Environmental groups and politicians claimed victory after spending weeks opposing Indiana's decision to
grant BP a permit to increase its discharges and calling on the company to find a better solution.
quot;I think this is right decision, not only for Lake Michigan but for the company,quot; said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin,
D-Ill. quot;They have worked hard to develop a reputation as a green company sensitive to the environment,
and they realized during the course of this controversy that their reputation was at stake.quot;
Durbin and U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., who ran an ad on Chicago radio stations urging people to
oppose BP's plans by signing an online petition, issued a joint statement saying quot;every person who spoke
out against the dumping had their voices heard.quot;
quot;We sent a message to BP that the pollution of one of our national treasures will not be tolerated. Together,
we put pressure on a company to do what is right and they responded,quot; they said.
BP spokesman Scott Dean said the company was concerned about possible delays caused by legal and
legislative challenges.
quot;The company had no choice with that level of business risk to create its own regulatory certainty by going
back to its old permitted limits,quot; he said.
The furor over BP's plans erupted after the Indiana Department of Environmental Management in June
approved a permit allowing BP to dump 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more suspended solids
into Lake Michigan.
The Alliance for the Great Lakes last week appealed the permit, arguing that opponents had not been
properly notified about it and therefore weren't able to fight it. State and federal lawmakers also were
exploring ways to keep BP from increasing its discharges.
Malone said BP will follow the lower limits. It also will seek technological solutions so it can move ahead
with a $3.8 billion expansion of its oil refinery in Whiting, just east of Chicago, to process heavy Canadian
crude oil and increase production of motor fuels.
http://www.mlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/business-13/11879213454310.xml&storylist... 9/3/2007

2. Mlive.com's Printer-Friendly Page Page 2 of 2
quot;We are committed to this project. It is important for the nation, it is important for the Midwest, and it is
important to BP and to the thousands of BP employees in the state of Indiana,quot; Malone said. quot;We are going
to work hard to make this project succeed.quot;
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who had contended the state permit was still more stringent than federal rules,
said BP made quot;a difficult business decision.quot;
He said he hoped new technology is found to enable the expansion to proceed without boosting pollution.
quot;For now, let's hope this quiets the hypocrisy of politicians elsewhere whose states dump vastly greater
amounts of effluent in the Great Lakes and other bodies of water,quot; Daniels said.
Tom Anderson, executive director of Michigan City-based Save the Dunes Council, said he was pleased by
BP's announcement and repeated the group's contention that the company could use existing technologies
to reduce its discharges.
quot;We are optimistic they will be able to find the technology and find the room on the plant so the project can
go forward and Lake Michigan can be protected,quot; Anderson said.
BP also announced Thursday that it was granting Purdue University $5 million to help pay for a study by the
Purdue Calumet Water Institute and the Argonne National Laboratory to identify emerging technologies that
could help improve wastewater treatment across the Great Lakes.
___
On the Net:
BP: http://www.bp.com
Indiana Department of Environmental Management: http://www.in.gov/idem/
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
© 2007 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.mlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/business-13/11879213454310.xml&storylist... 9/3/2007