Funding Cuts to the DNR and the DEQ Threaten The Great Lakes and Your Health

Michigan's state conservation agencies, the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Environmental Quality, are vastly and disproportionately under-funded, according to a new report released today by the Michigan League of Conservation Voters Education Fund. The report analyzes the state's fiscal budget over the last 25 years and finds that the Department of Natural Resource (DNR) and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) have suffered major cuts in critical funding. As a result, Michigan's Great Lakes, state lands,and wildlife are in peril.

The report is authored by Dave Dempsey, environmental policy aide, author, and
Michigan LCV Education Fund consultant. Tom Clay, Director of State Affairs Emeritus
with the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, assisted in the collection and analysis of the financial and employment data.

Key findings in the report outline that over the last decade these two state agencies have suffered more than their fair share of budget cuts, resulting in major losses of funding, causing the closing of campgrounds, and failures to clean up toxic contamination.

"As just one example of the importance of these departments to Michigan's future:
currently the DEQ is working to drastically reduce mercury emissions that pollute our Great Lakes and threaten our way of life and children’s health - a crucial milestone in Michigan's history. Without the proper DEQ funds and staff, programs such as thesewould be threatened and Michigan's Great Lakes could become an open dumping groundfor polluters.” said Kim Pargoff, Energy Advocate with Environment Michigan.

Howard Tanner, former Director of the DNR expressed his concern over the report's
conclusions. “Michigan was once a leader on conservation and environmental protection of our vast natural resources. Somehow that trend has been reversed and our leadership in conservation has been tarnished. It is up to our leaders in Lansing to work together to return to our once proud legacy of environmental stewardship by properly funding the DNR and DEQ."

Some of the major findings of the report include:

• Conservation Funding Slashed: Since 2001, The DNR and DEQ departments have suffered a 62 percent decline in funding. This decline is not at all proportionate to overall declines in statewide funds: for the same period, total general fund spending dropped only 6 percent.
• DNR and DEQ unfairly targeted: No other state department has lost as much proportional support as DNR and DEQ.
• Family vacationers bear consequences of budget cuts: Cuts in this year’s
appropriation caused the agency to close 20 of its 138 state forest campgrounds
early this summer.
• Communities abandoned: By next year, there will be no more funding for the
state's contaminated site cleanup program. Without this program, thousands of
toxic sites around the country will be left as is, posing serious public health and
environmental risks.

In Saginaw, increased budget cuts to the DEQ would have consequences for local
citizens.

"The most pervasive toxic contamination in the state threatens Lake Huron. The DEQ has worked five years to bring the responsible party, Dow Chemical Company, to a point where some dioxins and other toxics are being removed. What happens if the
DEQ's budget is cut again? What happens to our rivers, our lakes, our drinking water, our fisheries, if our first line of defense is hamstrung by budget cuts," said Lone Tree Council Chairperson Terry Miller. "And the DEQ's Saginaw Bay Coastal Initiative, an effort to deal with the shoreline muck, invasive species, and sewer overflows -- do we just tell people to hold their noses and hope?"

Given these major funding cuts, the Michigan League of Conservation Voters Education
Fund along with dozens of environmental and conservation organizations are calling on the State Legislature and Governor Granholm to invest in Michigan's future and place Michigan's air, land, and water as a top priority for the prosperity of our state by providing the critical funding necessary to fully fund the DNR and DEQ.

For more info contact: Brian Beauchamp 734-222-9650, Michigan League of Conservation Voters Education Fund
Hugh McDiarmid, Jr. 517-487-9539, Michigan Environmental Council

Here's the link to the report: Losing a Legacy: Why Michigan’s Magnificent Places are at Risk

Knu: what it means to be sustainable

I'm proud to say that over here at Industrial Woodworking/Knu LLC in Zeeland, Michigan we have just completed our first video project to inform consumers about our efforts toward becoming a fully sustainable furniture manufacturing company.




Industrial Woodworking Corp/Knu LLC has joined the Sustainable Furniture Council, a non-profit industry organization working to promote environmental ethics within the furniture industry. Brad Davis - our CEO - and I now sit on the education committee of the SFC, and we are working hard to instruct retailers and consumers about sustainability. As we move toward using Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood products whenever possible, we will have a dramatic effect on the future of forests here in the US and abroad.

Industrial Woodworking Corporation, along with its subsidiary Knu, is now, I believe, the only fully carbon neutral furniture manufacturing company in West Michigan. We are purchasing renewable energy credits through our partner CarbonFund.org, and have offset all of our electricity, natural gas, vehicle use and air travel. We are also partnering with the National Arbor Day Foundation to plant a tree for every piece of furniture Knu sells in a national forest here in the U.S. As you watch this short video, you'll learn about some of the other steps we've taken to move forward toward a more ecologically sound future for this region and it's economy.

As Brad has stated repeatedly, if we lead and are successful, others will have to follow. The future of West Michigan industry is green.

Other BP Permits Slipping Under the Radar Screen

This week in the Great Lakes Town Hall – Carolyn A. Marsh

This week, the Great Lakes Town Hall is presenting Carolyn A. Marsh of Whiting, Indiana. A devoted birdwatcher, Carolyn played a pivotal role in blocking the construction of what would have been the nation's largest marina in a migratory hot spot in Hammond, IN. Carolyn is currently putting pressure on BP Amoco to increase public participation in their expansion plans in Indiana. Despite BP's promise to not invoke their controversial refinery wastewater permit, it looks like the fight isn't over yet:

"Local environmental watchdogs and national refinery experts have exposed a series of actions by BP officials and Indiana agencies to "piece-meal" the massive expansion of the Whiting refinery and mislead the public about the extent of the combined pollution to theregion's air and water. While protest has erupted over plans to increase dumping of wastewater to Lake Michigan as a result of the refinery's processing of heavily contaminated "tar sands oil", until now the public has been uninformed about BP's plans to build two more giant plants in the same area under separate permits."

Don't miss your chance to read and respond to Ms. Marsh's perspectives every day this week.

It's important to note that BP is not the only refinery expanding in the Great Lakes region. Marathon is planning and seeking approval for a major expansion in the Detroit area to also process Canadian "tar sands oil." This issue is not going to go away anytime soon, and it up to eco-freaks throughout the Midwest to get informed about this issue and it's ramifications for the Lakes. This is just the beginning of this fight.

The Detroit News published an editorial today in support of the Marathon expansion. If you know anything about the News, you know they have a right-wing conservative bias and they oppose any environmental group's activities. It is my opinion that the Detroit News would be better used as toilet paper than as a news source. Unfortunately they probably use some kind of toxic ink that won't flush well.



Thanks go to the Biodiversity Project in Madison, WI for the info on the Great Lakes Town Hall.

Clean Water Action Job Announcement

Grand Rapids Area Community Organizer
Full-time position with Clean Water Action

Application Deadline:

September 1, 2007 or until position is filled.
Clean Water Action, Michigan’s largest grassroots environmental group, is looking for a true progressive leader and self-directed individual to mobilize citizens to take action on behalf of environmental protection. Working from our Grand Rapids office, Clean Water Action‘s community organizer will engage citizens throughout West Michigan to mobilize the residents in support of priority environmental and environmental health policies. The organizer will also educate voters on lawmaker voting records and work to hold elected officials accountable.

Organizer Responsibilities:

Manage a busy, one-person office in Grand Rapids
Coordinate multiple public education and political campaigns
Recruit, sustain and manage volunteers and interns
Develop relationships with community leaders and key funders
Plan and implement winning grassroots strategies
Build and strengthen progressive networks and coalitions
Effectively initiate earned media, internet and other communications
Coordinate with other Clean Water Action staff and organizations
Provide program leadership for local canvass staff

Qualifications:

Successful professional or volunteer experience organizing on progressive issues
Strong oral/written communication skills and experience working with computers and doing online communications
Commitment to working with diverse people
Ability to successfully network with individuals and organizations
Well-organized, self-motivated, and able to work independently on multiple projects
Ability to develop and implement earned media strategies
Willingness to travel within Michigan, particularly West Michigan
Willingness to work weekday evenings and weekends as needed

Compensation:

Salary commensurate with experience. Benefits package included.

To Apply:

Contact David Holtz at dholtz@cleanwater.org

Black Bear Speaks has no affiliation with Clean Water Action, I just think they're cool people. Send your questions to them.

Nestle Fight Continues, Getting Uglier

Citizens Group Fighting Nestle Water Extraction Seeks Reversal of Supreme Court's Crippling Blow to Environmental Citizen Suit Law

Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, the citizen group who won a major court victory that limited groundwaterpumping by Nestle for its Ice Mountain bottled water that harmed a stream, two lakes, and wetlands, filed a Motion for Rehearing with the
Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday, August 15, 2007.

On July 25th, the State's highest court, in a 4-to-3 decision, agreed with lower court rulings that Nestle's groundwater extraction illegally harmed the lakes, stream, and wetlands. But the Court also reversed part of the lower court’s ruling by limiting the citizen groups’ legal right to bring a lawsuit against Nestle under Michigan’s Environmental Protection Act for damaging a lake and wetlands on its own property. The citizens group has standing, the right to bring the suit, to protect the lakes and streams which individuals or the group's members owned or used, but no right to bring suit to stop a polluter from destroying a lake and wetland on his or her own property, the Court's decision said.

Ironically, in June of this year, Michigan's internationally renowned environmental citizen-suit law won more acclaim when the law's author, Professor Joseph Sax, who wrote the law at the request of former Governor William Milliken in 1970, was awarded the prestigious international Blue Planet Prize in Tokyo.

"MCWC has asked the Court to rehear its decision, because we think the citizens of Michigan deserve a closer look at a ruling that blocks their right to sue to prevent environmental damage on Nestle’s property," Terry Swier, President of Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, said. "Our air, water, and natural resources do not recognize the legal fiction of property boundaries when it comes to environmental harm."

The citizen group requests the Court to rehear its July 25th decision, because it denies them their legal right to bring a citizen suit to prevent Nestle from causing undeniable harm, according to the findings of the lower courts, to the water resources of the state. "In a larger sense, the decision may have exceeded the Court's judicial power under our constitution and denied these people their first amendment right to petition government to redress wrongs," said James Olson, from Olson, Bzdok & Howard, who represents the citizen groups in its battles with Nestle. "In the immediate sense, the decision ignored a model environmental law passed by our legislature and knocked the teeth out of citizens individual rights to protect the environment," he said.

The Court's blow to the right granted to citizens by the Legislature to bring suits to protect the environment has met with outcry on the editorial pages of most newspapers.

Former Governor Milliken, who with a bipartisan Legislature spearheaded the adoption of the landmark environmental law in 1970, condemned the Court's decision in various news articles.

George Weeks, a well-respected political columnist, in an Op Ed, July 29th, described the Michigan Environmental Protection Act as “crippled” by “the Michigan Supreme Court, which Weeks dubbed as the "Engler Four – justices elevated to that bench or the Court of Appeals by ex-Gov John Engler."

Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation's reason for filing the Motion for Rehearing is to give the Court an opportunity to reconsider its earlier July 25th decision.

"It makes no sense to us. The Court says we have standing to prevent the damage to the stream and one lake within the affected area of Nestle’s pumping, but then says we don’t have the right to protect the lake and wetlands on Nestle’s property, even though these water resources are also harmed and within the same affected area," Swier said.

Sustainable Living on the Great Lakes

"Sustainable Living on the Lakes" will be the theme of the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Great Lakes Commission, Oct. 1-2 in Chicago, Ill. The meeting will feature expert panels on climate change and its impacts on the Great Lakes, water conservation, and renewable energy and economic development. There will also be a series of field trips to Chicago's Center for Green Technology and the electric aquatic nuisance species dispersal barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. In addition, the meeting will feature updates on Great Lakes-related legislation making its way through Congress, the implementation of the Great Lakes Water Resources Compact and other high-priority Great Lakes issues. For more information, see www.glc.org/meeting. Contact: Tim Eder, teder@glc.org.

Great Lakes Restoration Conference - Chicago

Join key players from government, business and advocacy groups who are at the center of the movement to restore the Great Lakes. Help set the Great Lakes restoration agenda for the coming year; hear first-hand about the issues facing the Great Lakes; and help advance the actions needed to protect the world’s largest surface fresh water source.

And, best of all, have fun doing it: Enjoy an evening at the Shedd Aquarium, a beautiful sunset cruise, dynamic speakers, field trips and much more!

When: September 6-8, 2007

Where: Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, Illinois

About the conference:
We have a once-in-a-generation chance to significantly restore the health of our Great Lakes, to help our children and their children enjoy the Lakes as we have. This year’s event, to be held near the Lake Michigan lakefront and Chicago’s new international attraction, Millennium Park, will build on the success of the First and Second Annual Great Lakes Restoration Conferences.

Why attend?
To advance the effort to restore the Great Lakes for future generations.

Set the restoration agenda:
Conference participants have an opportunity to advance Great Lakes restoration by unifying the region behind a priority list of restoration programs to advocate for in Washington, D.C., building a compelling case for passing the national Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act, and inspiring citizens and organizations to join the drive to restore the Great Lakes.

Gain the skills to take action for the Great Lakes:
The conference will help participants better understand the issues facing the Lakes and the actions they can take to protect them.

Network with people at the center of the effort to restore the Great Lakes:
As always, leading stakeholders will attend the conference, providing attendees with the opportunity to meet key players from government, business and advocacy groups who are essential to making Great Lakes restoration succeed, build partnerships, and join the movement to restore the Great Lakes.

Who should attend?


* People committed to Great Lakes restoration
* Business leaders dependent on the Great Lakes
* Local, state, federal and tribal government officials
* Federal and state lawmakers and legislative staff
* Community leaders from across the Great Lakes Basin
* Scientists and researchers
* Environmental and conservation groups
* Travel and tourism interests
* Boating, fishing and recreation interests
* Environmental consulting firms and agencies
* Governmental affairs staff

For more information contact:
Marie Borie Wood, events program manager, Alliance for the Great Lakes, at: 312-939-0838 ext. 227, or mboriewood@greatlakes.org.
annual conference, Chicago, Conference events

Illinois ratifies Great Lakes Compact

Illinois has become the second Great Lakes state to ratify the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact, an interstate agreement to protect and conserve the waters of the Great Lakes basin. Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed the legislation into law on Friday, Aug. 17, joining Minnesota in approving the Compact. Other legislation is pending in Indiana, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania. A companion agreement, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement, has been enacted by Ontario and approved by the Québec National Assembly. For more information, visit the Council of Great Lakes Governors web site at www.cglg.org or the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Water Resources Regional Body web site at www.glslregionalbody.org.

Eco-heads File BP Pollution Permit Appeal

Seeking to put on hold BP’s permit to discharge more pollution to Lake Michigan and allow the public to weigh in formally on the matter, the Alliance for the Great Lakes today filed a petition asking the court to suspend the permit and re-start the public appeal process.

Filed with Indiana’'s Office of Environmental Adjudication, the petition calls into question the state’s handling of the discharge permit it granted BP’s Whiting, Ind. refinery, and says the Alliance and others weren’'t served notice about the final permit and the appeal process.

“The Indiana permit process goes to the heart of people’s right to fully scrutinize governmental decisions allowing pollution discharges to our waterways,” said Alliance President Cameron Davis, who filed the petition for review of the permit.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is under fire from the public and lawmakers for issuing BP a permit to discharge nearly 1,500 pounds of ammonia and 5,000 pounds of suspended solids from treated sludge into Lake Michigan daily -- increases of 54 percent and 35 percent respectively. The permit also gives BP until 2012 to meet strict federal limits for discharging mercury, a dangerous neurotoxin.

The department’s failure to notify some or all stakeholders who submitted comments on the draft permit, including the Alliance and the LaPorte County Environmental Association, resulted in the public being shut out of the formal appeal process, according to the Alliance petition.

Sometime after the close of the public comment period, the agency posted the BP discharge permit on its website -- but didn’'t list an effective date or otherwise indicate that it was a final permit. The agency now says the 15-day period in which the public could appeal the permit – a period that starts as soon as interested parties receive notice of the permit – has already expired.

“Everyone who drinks Lake Michigan water should have the ability to challenge pollution permits, but the public never had much of a chance with the BP permit,” said Davis. “Indiana went from the close of the public comment period, to permit issuance in about a month; this is unheard of.”

The last time BP’s permit was re-issued was in 1990.

The petition seeks a stay of the BP discharge permit, and further asks the court to start the clock over with a new permit appeal time.

The petition is online at http://www.greatlakes.org/news/pdf/Petition-Indiana.081407.doc

Anti-BP video from YouTube

Thanks to Michigan Liberal for this video. Scroll down for more information on the BP refinery in Whiting, Indiana and then do your part. Join the nationwide boycott of BP!

Michigan Supreme Court Sides with Nestle Corp

A Message from Jim Olson, Attorney for Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation

The Supreme Court Clerk's office left a message this morning that it issued an opinion and order today. While Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, and the Doyle and Sapp families reserve further comment after digesting the opinion and order in more detail, for the moment,it appears the four of the Justices --Justices Marksman, Taylor, Corrigan, and Young -- have put another nail in the coffin of citizen standing, and that Michigan's environment and individual and public rights have taken another severe blow at the hand of this Court. The Court now says it will require that any person bringing a lawsuit to protect our air, water, and natural resources, or the public trust in our waters, must allege and prove harm to waters, wetlands, or other environmental features on the Defendant polluter's property; i.e. standing has been used as a sword to cut-off or cripple the citizen suit to protect Michigan's environment, and to give Nestle and other businesses a license to destroy and pollute on their own property unless a citizen can show a specific interest in Defendant's property, such as use, aesthetics, recreation.

Nestle asked the Court to cripple the state's Michigan Environmental Protection Act ("MEPA"). And Nestle succeeded in damaging the rights of citizens to protect our water and water resources. The Court followed suit. It's decision is regressive, punitive, and illogical in the extreme. In 1963, citizens enacted a Constitution that mandates the legislature to pass laws to protect the environment as an important public interest to the health and welfare of people in the State. in 1970, our legislature passed a law, the MEPA, that granted citizens to maintain lawsuits against those who propose or act in ways that are likely to pollute, impair, or destroy the air, water or natural resources or the public trust. Why and how could an injured Plaintiff from Nestle's conduct not be able to maintain a lawsuit to protect all of the environment and water resources harmed by Nestle's pumping ? MCWC and the Doyles and Sapp families in the MCWC v Nestle case proved unreasonable harm from Nestles pumping. Once this has been shown, the law intends all harm can be stopped or controlled. For the Court to condone harm on a company's property is irrational. Such an approach ignores judicial restraint called for by the doctrine of separation of powers that is supposed to protect our constitution, the rights and interests protected by it, and the powers of the legislature to follow it. The approach by the Court condones the piecemeal, wholesale destruction, and ruin of Michigan's treasured and fabled water resources and the environment. Four justices have cast their vote in favor of big business and against individual property rights, citizens, our local governments and communities , and the waters, wetlands, and environment. In the bigger picture, these Justices have also cast their vote in favor of big business and squarely against all citizens and the community in which they live.

In addition, the Court's opinion fails to address the important water law issues before it, so critical to the people of Michigan, including groundwater, riparian, the public trust and future of the waters of the Great Lakes. The Court simply affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part the Court of Appeals decision, not stating what was affirmed, but stating only that it has ruled on the MEPA standing issue, and remanded that to the trial court. In my mind, this means, Plaintiffs will go back to circuit court to (a) address standing in the wetlands and Osprey Lake on Nestle's property, and (b) request the trial court to explain how the unreasonable harm, which is not in dispute, constitutes an impairment under the MEPA to the riparian and public waters of the stream and, if (a) is established, to the wetlands and Osprey Lake on Nestle's property. Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation and individually harmed plaintiffs will continue to fight for Michigan's water and related water resources and the public trust.

It's time for all citizens to take standing, our air, water and public trust into their hands. The Constitution is of and for the people. These issues belong to the people. It is time for massive unified action, without regard to our politics, to demand respect for and protection of the environment by the Supreme Court, since that's what our Constitution and laws demand. If necessary, this means citizens should petition to amend the Constitution of the state to make it clear to the Court, that when the people declare the environment is of paramount concern and the legislature shall pass laws to protect it, they mean it. This includes the authority to enact citizen suits without regard to the artificial barriers erected by the Court. Such barriers destroy our heritage, our water and natural resources, and communities. These matters should be a first priority on the agenda for the people in the State, and particularly landowners and private property owners who live on lakes and streams or near industry, and those with an interest in conservation, the environment, and the future health of our communities and quality of life.

In solidarity of the rights of citizens to vindicate the public interest as declared by our State Constitution,

Yours,

Jim Olson
Attorney for Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation

"The Supreme Court's decision to not allow citizens to protect our water and water resources under the MEPA does not affect the water ruling of the Court of Appeals. MCWC still has standing and that Nestle's pumping still has been determined to be unlawful under common law and MEPA as to the Dead Stream, Thompson Lake, and adjacent wetlands. The remand order to restrict Nestle's pumping in the future remains unaffected." Terry Swier, Director, MCWC

US Congress Opposes BP Refinery Plan

This article was in the Detroit Free Press....


House says BP can't dump more pollutants

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly this afternoon to send a strong message opposing expansion plans by BP to dump more pollutants into Lake Michigan as part of its oil refinery expansion.

BP does not plan to delay the expansion of its refinery at Whiting, Ind., where the extra pollution would occur, but after a meeting between BP’s chairman and members of Congress from Great Lakes states, the company promised to continue a dialogue with the legislators and to review its options, said Scott Dean, spokesman for BP in Chicago....

Click here to read the rest of this article


The following article was in the Detroit News

BP lake discharges under fire
Lawmakers oppose company's plan to boost dumping of pollutants into Lake Michigan.
Deb Price And Gary Heinlein / The Detroit News

WASHINGTON -- Oil giant BP ran into fierce resistance Tuesday in Congress over its plan to dramatically increase daily discharges of ammonia and other pollutants from its Whiting, Ind., refinery into Lake Michigan.

"This is crazy. This is nuts," U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township, said during House debate on a resolution to condemn BP's plan and urge the federal Environmental Protection Agency to stop it.

Miller said the decision by Indiana and federal authorities to permit BP to dump more pollutants into Lake Michigan "marks a huge step backwards in our efforts to keep our Great Lakes clean."

Click here to read this article in the Detroit News

Indiana Environmental chief should resign

Citizens in Whiting, Indiana are calling for Indiana Department of Environmental Management Commissioner Thomas Easterly to resign, claiming he has "failed to protect the public interest" regarding the increase of toxic pollution from the BP refinery directly into Lake Michigan.

The Hoosier Environmental Council will be asked to approve a resolution Saturday calling for Easterly's ouster. If it is approved, a "no-confidence" call will be presented at an Aug. 9 IDEM public hearing taking place at its regional office in Merrillville. The hearing is on a BP variance request to alter which portions of the plant can release smokestack particles.

Folks in Indiana are getting pissed. Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. of Hammond, Indiana has stated his opposition to BP and says he's concerned that the BP Whiting Refinery is dumping near the intake pipe for city of Hammond drinking water. Hammond's Water Works supplies water to residents of Hammond and 10 other communities, including Munster and Lansing. The intake pipe is about a mile from where BP is proposing to increase its wastewater discharge.

Meanwhile, over here in West Michigan, a local radio station is broadcasting live today from a BP gas station in Cedar Springs, Michigan. This BP store is attempting to lure customers in by giving away its merchandise. Apparently the folks at BP are scared shitless, enough to start giving away the store in order to stay in business.

So, I'm going to write a letter to the Grand Rapids Press today asking local businesses to pull their advertising from this radio station until they apologize to the citizens of the Great Lakes for being such massive idiots. This is reprehensible and a blatant act of irresponsibility on the part of the radio station's management.

BP is a BAD corporate citizen. They've been lying for years, telling us how green they are. In fact, they've been poisoning Lake Michigan for decades. The time has come to tell them to shut down their refinery operation on the lakeshore.

See the related posts below regarding this issue.

Chicago Battles BP Refinery Over Lake Michigan Pollution

from the Chicago Tribune, July 19, 2007

The City of Chicago joined the fight Wednesday to stop the BP refinery in Whiting, Ind., from dumping significantly more ammonia and industrial sludge into Lake Michigan.

City administrators said they hope to meet with BP officials next week. They've hired a consultant to review the water permit granted by Indiana regulators that will allow BP, one of the largest polluters along the Great Lakes, to dump 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more sludge into Lake Michigan each day.

The word is out thanks to the Tribune. Let's continue to blog the boycott of BP and spread the word until they agree to stop polluting Lake Michigan. This is a winnable fight, BP is already on the defensive due to the public outcry being generated by the Tribune articles.

The Merriville Post-Tribune is running an article entitled BP Defends Permit.

This is the power of the internet kids. Let's crush them.

More to come.

BP Increases Toxic Sludge Dumping into Lake Michigan

BP will now be allowed to dump an average of 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 pounds of sludge mixed with 21 million gallons of contaminated wastewater into Lake Michigan EVERY DAY. An immediate boycott of BP is necessary.

There are thousands upon thousands of people who get drinking water directly from Lake Michigan. This is a message for you folks who are ingesting BP's bullshit.

From the Tribune:

The massive BP oil refinery in Whiting, Ind., is planning to dump significantly more ammonia and industrial sludge into Lake Michigan, running counter to years of efforts to clean up the Great Lakes.

Indiana regulators exempted BP from state environmental laws to clear the way for a $3.8 billion expansion that will allow the company to refine heavier Canadian crude oil. They justified the move in part by noting the project will create 80 new jobs.

Under BP's new state water permit, the refinery—already one of the largest polluters along the Great Lakes—can release 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more sludge into Lake Michigan each day. Ammonia promotes algae blooms that can kill fish, while sludge is full of concentrated heavy metals...

BP, which aggressively markets itself as an environmentally friendly corporation, is investing heavily in Canadian crude oil to reduce its reliance on sources in the Middle East. Extracting petroleum from the thick goop is a dirtier process than conventional methods. It also requires more energy that could significantly increase greenhouse gases linked to global warming.

Environmental groups and dozens of neighbors pleaded with BP to install more effective pollution controls at the nation's fourth-largest refinery, which rises above the lakeshore about 3 miles southeast of the Illinois-Indiana border...

State and federal regulators, though, agreed last month with the London-based company that there isn't enough room at the 1,400-acre site to upgrade the refinery's water treatment plant.

This is the purest example of corporate green washing. We've been hearing from BP for years now about how green they are becoming and how sustainable their operations are. Well, it's an outright lie. BP is poisoning Lake Michigan, the water you swim in and drink. This is not some remote oil spill in Alaska, this is right in our backyard.

I'M CALLING FOR AN IMMEDIATE BOYCOTT OF BP THROUGHOUT THE GREAT LAKES. LET'S SHUT THESE BASTARDS DOWN, PERMANENTLY. DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BP GAS UNTIL THIS NEW ATROCITY HAS STOPPED OR THE BP FACILITY IN INDIANA IS SHUT DOWN. IF THEY THINK THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH THIS, THEY ARE DEAD WRONG.

Do the math:
1584 pounds of ammonia per day multiplied by 365 days equals 578,160 pounds per year, and 5,781,600lbs in the next decade.

4925 pounds of toxic sludge multiplied by 365 days equals 1,797,625 pounds per year, or 17,976,250 pounds over the next 10 years.

The Grand Total? 23,757,850 pounds of BP bullshit.

At 21 million gallons of contamintated water per day, they will pollute 76,650,000,000 gallons of fresh water in the next ten years.

Read the Chicago Tribune article for yourself, get motivated and get involved: Chicago Tribune
Published July 15, 2007

Bush Administration to Slaughter Recovering Wolf Population

The Bush Administration has just issued plan that will order the extermination of half the gray wolves in Wyoming and Idaho, starting in October. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting public comments on this proposal until August 6.

Our best hope for blocking this "open fire" order is to generate a tidal wave of public outrage and protest...so please sign your send your comments immediately.

In preparation for these mass killings, the government has already purchased planes and helicopters capable of gunning down entire packs of wolves in minutes. The goal is to immediately kill up to 700 wolves in Greater Yellowstone and central Idaho.

Only three months ago, online activists sent more than 137,000 comments protesting the Bush Administration's plan to remove Greater Yellowstone's wolves from the endangered species list. But even before that issue has been decided, the Bush Administration is declaring open season on wolves.

They will order the slaughter to begin while wolves are still on the Endangered Species list.

The administration wants to be able to kill wolves anywhere that elk herd numbers may be affected by wolves. It is focusing on areas where elk herds are smaller than the states want.

But those few cases of declines in elk herds have been caused by a combination of factors including habitat destruction, drought and human hunting -- not just by wolves. In most areas of the northern Rockies, elk numbers are at all-time highs!

Please block this newest disgraceful act by Washington by expressing your personal opposition while the Bush Administration is still taking public input.

Submit your comments now by clicking on the big red "Take Action" button. Help protect the wolves of Greater Yellowstone and Idaho from the coming gunfire.