HR0620 LRB095 12794 CMK 38209 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The British Petroleum oil refinery in Whiting,
3 Indiana is planning an expansion that would increase the
4 refinery's discharges into Lake Michigan significantly,
5 including 54% more ammonia (for a total discharge of 1,584
6 pounds of ammonia per day) and 35% more sludge (for a total
7 discharge of 4,925 pounds of sludge per day) on a daily basis,
8 running contrary to years of efforts to clean up the Great
9 Lakes; and
 
10     WHEREAS, Ammonia promotes algae blooms that can kill fish
11 in the Lake and the sludge that will be discharged into the
12 Lake by British Petroleum is full of concentrated heavy metals;
13 and
 
14     WHEREAS, The increased discharge into the Lake runs counter
15 to a provision of the federal Clean Water Act that prohibits
16 any downgrade in water quality near a pollution source, such as
17 the British Petroleum refinery; and
 
18     WHEREAS, Indiana State regulators are allowing British
19 Petroleum to install equipment that mixes its toxic waste with
20 clean lake water about 200 feet offshore, and actively diluting
21 pollution in Lake Michigan in this way is banned under Indiana
22 law; and
 

 

 

HR0620 - 2 - LRB095 12794 CMK 38209 r

1     WHEREAS, The Indiana Department of Environmental
2 Management granted British Petroleum the first-ever exemption
3 to allow the pollution "mixing zone" in Lake Michigan; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Environmental regulators remain unsure about the
5 ecological effects of the relatively new refining process that
6 British Petroleum plans to use and the increased discharge into
7 Lake Michigan; and
 
8     WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection Agency
9 has not objected to the State of Indiana's decision to allow
10 the increased discharge by British Petroleum; and
 
11     WHEREAS, States rely on the federal government to enforce
12 interstate water quality, the federal Clean Water Act has
13 assisted states in cleaning up polluted waters and protecting
14 unpolluted waters, and states need new tools in addition to the
15 existing Clean Water Act to help protect ground and surface
16 waters from out-of-state pollution sources; and
 
17     WHEREAS, The federal Clean Air Act requires states to take
18 certain actions when permitting new sources of air pollution
19 that may increase pollution in nearby states and provides
20 remedies for states to address air pollution coming from
21 out-of-state sources; therefore, be it
 

 

 

HR0620 - 3 - LRB095 12794 CMK 38209 r

1     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
2 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
3 strongly urge the United States Environmental Protection
4 Agency to follow a strict interpretation of the federal Clean
5 Water Act to minimize any additional pollution into Lake
6 Michigan; and be it further
 
7     RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Environmental
8 Protection Agency to prohibit the Whiting, Indiana British
9 Petroleum refinery from increasing the refinery's current
10 discharges of ammonia and sludge into Lake Michigan until the
11 ecological and environmental impact of the increased
12 discharges is fully understood by federal and state
13 environmental regulators; and be it further
 
14     RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois delegation to the
15 United States Congress to take legislative action against any
16 planned increase in the discharge of pollution into Lake
17 Michigan that is contrary to the federal Clean Water Act and
18 threatens the health of the environment of this State; and be
19 it further
 
20     RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Congress to enact
21 Clean Water Act legislation requiring states to take certain
22 actions when permitting new sources of water pollution that may

 

 

HR0620 - 4 - LRB095 12794 CMK 38209 r

1 increase pollution in nearby states and providing remedies for
2 states to address water pollution coming from out-of-state
3 sources; and be it further
 
4     RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Environmental
5 Protection Agency to strengthen federal regulations to require
6 each state that permits a new source of water pollution to
7 provide written notice to all nearby states whose water quality
8 may be degraded by the new source at least 60 days before the
9 new source begins discharging pollution; and be it further
 
10     RESOLVED, That we encourage the federal government to take
11 action to give one state the right to bring an action in
12 federal court against another state that is causing or
13 contributing to water pollution that exceeds water quality
14 standards or otherwise adversely impacts the drinking water or
15 recreational uses of water in the first state; and be it
16 further
 
17     RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Environmental
18 Protection Agency to increase enforcement of existing clean
19 water laws to protect state waters from out-of-state pollution
20 sources, especially the Clean Water Act provision that
21 prohibits any decline in water quality even if limits on
22 pollution discharges are met; and be it further
 

 

 

HR0620 - 5 - LRB095 12794 CMK 38209 r

1     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
2 delivered to the administrator of the United States
3 Environmental Protection Agency, Stephen L. Johnson, and to the
4 Great Lakes National Program Manager for the United States
5 Environmental Protection Agency, Mary A. Gade, to each member
6 of the Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin delegations
7 to the United States Congress, and to the governors and state
8 legislative leaders of Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.