In 2007, under a deal with Indiana Regulators BP promised to develop technology that will enable their refinery in Whiting to reduce the amount of mercury released into Lake Michigan to a level within acceptable federal limits. Six years later the authorities in Indiana are preparing to grant BP an indefinite permit to dump amounts of mercury in excess of 20 times the federal standard. BP has developed several promising technologies, but has not yet implemented them on a large scale. This new permit will make it likely that they never do and could undo decades of effort to clean up the great lakes.
We ask that the Obama administration intercede in whatever way possible and ensure that BP is required to halt the dumping of mercury into the waters of the United States.