GLIN==> Indiana Proposal Falls Short of Protecting Lakes

Alliance for the Great Lakes
Monday, Aug. 17, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Indiana Proposal Falls Short of Protecting Lakes

Indiana hosts the first of three public informational meetings on its controversial new antidegradation rules Wednesday, Aug. 19 in Portage, followed by meetings in Garrett Aug. 25, and Seymour Aug. 26.

“Indiana’s new rules don't go far enough to protect Lake Michigan from new or increased pollution,” said Lyman Welch, manager of the Alliance for the Great Lakes' Water Quality Program. “The proposed rules are inconsistent with federal requirements in some cases and include improper exemptions.”   
 
The Alliance is working through a coalition of groups in Indiana to strengthen the federally mandated rules, which set a limit for how much new pollution can be discharged to Lake Michigan and other waterways in the state.

The federal Clean Water Act requires that before any new or increased water pollution is allowed, a company must show those discharges to be a necessary byproduct of important local economic or social gains. 

Environmentalists argue, in part, that Indiana’s draft rules contain numerous exemptions allowing companies to avoid justifying new or increased discharges, and fail to properly cover nitrogen and phosphorus discharges.

Indiana's rules are being debated against the backdrop of a public outcry over the state’s issuance of a wastewater permit in 2007 that would have allowed British Petroleum’s Whiting, Ind. refinery to increase its pollution discharge to Lake Michigan. The BP permit drew concern that Indiana's law doesn’t do enough to protect water quality, and an independent review found the state's inconsistent antidegradation policies caused some of the confusion. 

“The Alliance continues to monitor proposals around the Great Lakes to ensure they're carried out in a way that reduces and ultimately eliminates pollution over time,” said Welch. 

In Ohio, responding to the Alliance’s objections this summer to a proposed discharge permit for BP-Husky’s refinery near Toledo, state regulators are now requiring that refinery to conduct additional testing for dioxin pollution and to take steps to minimize it. 

Specifically, should BP-Husky’s dioxin levels exceed allowable limits, the new permit requires the refinery to list all potential sources of dioxin as well as available options for removing it from the wastewater. 

“This is an important step forward in protecting the Great Lakes from dioxins -- a highly toxic class of chemical compounds,” said Adam Caldwell, a Public Interest Law Initiative Fellow for the Alliance who helped draft the Alliance’s objections to the BP-Husky proposal. 

Welch said the Ohio victory underscores the importance of the Alliance’s work to reduce toxic pollution from refineries around the region at a time of growing interest in Canada’s vast reserve of tar sands -- a source of petroleum that was uneconomical to mine when oil prices were lower. 


Public Meetings on Tap in Indiana:

Aug. 19, 6 p.m. (CDT), Portage, Ind., at the NIRPC Building.
Aug. 25, 5:30 p.m. (EDT), Garrett, Ind., at the city hall. 
Aug. 26, 6 p.m. (EDT), Seymour, Ind., at the Jackson County Public
Library.

To see Indiana's proposed rules, visit http://www.in.gov/idem/5387.htm

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Formed in 1970, the Alliance for the Great Lakes is the oldest independent citizens' organization in North America. Its mission is to conserve and restore the world's largest freshwater resource using policy, education and local efforts, ensuring a healthy Great Lakes and clean water for generations of people and wildlife. More about the Alliance for the Great Lakes is online at www.greatlakes.org. 


Susan Campbell
Communications Manager
Alliance for the Great Lakes
414-540-0699
Visit http://www.greatlakes.org





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