Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels went to bat last week for BP and state inspectors in the face of withering criticism of the company's plans to increase the amounts of ammonia and other pollutants it discharges into Lake Michigan from the Whiting refinery.

Meeting with the Post-Tribune's editorial board, Daniels also voiced deep skepticism with environmentalists' statements that they were not properly notified of BP's permit application.

"Horsefeathers," Daniels said of the Alliance for the Great Lakes' argument that state law was violated. "It's all very statutory, the same process that has been followed in permits forever."

The alliance has asked the state to reopen the appeals period for the BP permit based on its arguments about notification.

BP's proposal faced a rigorous two-year vetting by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, according to the governor, and met state standards he insisted should make Hoosiers proud.

"IDEM put BP through the ringer for a couple years. It was not a rubber stamp process," Daniels said. "Somebody needs to say this was a decision made based on the facts and science, in good faith."

Nonetheless, the governor acknowledged it may be in the company's best interest to simply find a way to address the charges being leveled by U.S. congressmen, grassroots protesters and others.

"I have urged (BP) to look for whatever additional steps they might take," Daniels said. "And by the way, whether or not it makes any difference whatsoever, which I suspect it won't, it will be for (public relations) purposes most likely, as opposed to any detectable difference in the water quality."

Daniels blasted officials from neighboring states, who he said have criticized the BP permit while companies in their back yards discharge higher levels of pollution into the Great Lakes.

U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and U.S. Rep. Rahm Emmanuel, D- Ill., have led a loud chorus of regional voices against the BP proposal.

"It's a bit disingenuous, to say the least, to have all these rocks thrown at Indiana, when Chicago puts 50 times the very same effluent in the water," Daniels said.

(C) 2007 Post-Tribune. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved

Related Project
Whiting Refinery Modernization Project
Facility Type: Refinery Owner: BP plc
Scope: Expansion Location: Whiting, IN United States