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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION 620

 
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 total suspended solids
7 (for a total discharge of 4,925 pounds of total suspended
8 solids per day) on a daily basis, running contrary to years of
9 efforts to clean up the Great Lakes; and
 
10     WHEREAS, The beaches of Lake Michigan provide a significant
11 source of recreation, tourism, and drinking water for the State
12 of Illinois and other states bordering the Lake; and
 
13     WHEREAS, Last year, 81% of Illinois beaches were declared
14 unsafe due to algae and other pollution problems; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Ammonia promotes algae blooms that can kill fish
16 in the Lake; and
 
17     WHEREAS, The increased discharge into the Lake runs counter
18 to a provision of the federal Clean Water Act that prohibits
19 any downgrade in water quality near a pollution source, such as
20 the British Petroleum refinery; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, Indiana State regulators are allowing British
2 Petroleum to install equipment that mixes its toxic waste with
3 clean lake water about 200 feet offshore, and actively diluting
4 pollution in Lake Michigan in this way is banned under Indiana
5 law; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Environmental regulators remain unsure about the
7 ecological effects of the relatively new refining process that
8 British Petroleum plans to use and the increased discharge into
9 Lake Michigan; and
 
10     WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection Agency
11 has not objected to the State of Indiana's decision to allow
12 the increased discharge by British Petroleum; and
 
13     WHEREAS, States rely on the federal government to enforce
14 interstate water quality, the federal Clean Water Act has
15 assisted states in cleaning up polluted waters and protecting
16 unpolluted waters, and states need new tools in addition to the
17 existing Clean Water Act to help protect ground and surface
18 waters from out-of-state pollution sources; and
 
19     WHEREAS, The federal Clean Air Act requires states to take
20 certain actions when permitting new sources of air pollution
21 that may increase pollution in nearby states and provides
22 remedies for states to address air pollution coming from

 

 

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1 out-of-state sources; therefore, be it
 
2     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
3 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
4 urge British Petroleum to review and reconsider the wastewater
5 treatment facilities proposed to serve the expansion and
6 reconfiguration of its Whiting Refinery with the specific
7 intent to supplement or enhance treatment efficiencies to
8 eliminate or reduce the projected increases of ammonia nitrogen
9 and total suspended solids discharged into Lake Michigan; and
10 be it further
 
11     RESOLVED, That we strongly urge the United States
12 Environmental Protection Agency to follow a strict
13 interpretation of the federal Clean Water Act to minimize any
14 additional pollution into Lake Michigan; and be it further
 
15     RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Environmental
16 Protection Agency to prohibit the Whiting, Indiana British
17 Petroleum refinery from increasing the refinery's current
18 discharges of ammonia and total suspended solids into Lake
19 Michigan until the ecological and environmental impact of the
20 increased discharges is fully understood by federal and state
21 environmental regulators; and be it further
 
22     RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois delegation to the

 

 

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1 United States Congress to take legislative action against any
2 planned increase in the discharge of pollution into Lake
3 Michigan that is contrary to the federal Clean Water Act and
4 threatens the health of the environment of this State; and be
5 it further
 
6     RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Congress to enact
7 Clean Water Act legislation requiring states to take certain
8 actions when permitting new sources of water pollution that may
9 increase pollution in nearby states and providing remedies for
10 states to address water pollution coming from out-of-state
11 sources; and be it further
 
12     RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Environmental
13 Protection Agency to strengthen federal regulations to require
14 each state that permits a new source of water pollution to
15 provide written notice to all nearby states whose water quality
16 may be degraded by the new source at least 60 days before the
17 new source begins discharging pollution; and be it further
 
18     RESOLVED, That we encourage the federal government to take
19 action to give one state the right to bring an action in
20 federal court against another state that is causing or
21 contributing to water pollution that exceeds water quality
22 standards or otherwise adversely impacts the drinking water or
23 recreational uses of water in the first state; and be it

 

 

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1 further
 
2     RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Environmental
3 Protection Agency to increase enforcement of existing clean
4 water laws to protect state waters from out-of-state pollution
5 sources, especially the Clean Water Act provision that
6 prohibits any decline in water quality even if limits on
7 pollution discharges are met; and be it further
 
8     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
9 delivered to the administrator of the United States
10 Environmental Protection Agency, Stephen L. Johnson, and to the
11 Great Lakes National Program Manager for the United States
12 Environmental Protection Agency, Mary A. Gade, to each member
13 of the Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin delegations
14 to the United States Congress, and to the governors and state
15 legislative leaders of Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.