Full Text of HR0626 95th General Assembly
HR0626 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
|
|
HR0626 |
|
LRB095 12796 CMK 38181 r |
|
| 1 |
| HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 |
| WHEREAS, Lake Michigan is a valuable fresh water resource | 3 |
| for the State of Illinois; and
| 4 |
| WHEREAS, Pollution in Lake Michigan is a long-running | 5 |
| problem for the citizens of the State who use the Lake as a | 6 |
| primary source of drinking water; and
| 7 |
| WHEREAS, The beaches of Lake Michigan provide a significant | 8 |
| source of tourism income for the State of Illinois and other | 9 |
| states bordering the Lake; and
| 10 |
| WHEREAS, The British Petroleum oil refinery in Whiting, | 11 |
| Indiana is planning an expansion that would increase the | 12 |
| refinery's discharges into the Lake significantly, including | 13 |
| 54% more ammonia (for a total discharge of 1,584 pounds of | 14 |
| ammonia per day) and 35% more sludge (for a total discharge of | 15 |
| 4,925 pounds of sludge per day) on a daily basis, running | 16 |
| contrary to years of efforts to clean up the Great Lakes; and
| 17 |
| WHEREAS, Ammonia promotes algae blooms that can kill fish | 18 |
| in the Lake and the sludge that will be discharged into the | 19 |
| Lake by British Petroleum is full of concentrated heavy metals; | 20 |
| and
|
|
|
|
HR0626 |
- 2 - |
LRB095 12796 CMK 38181 r |
|
| 1 |
| WHEREAS, The increased discharge into the Lake runs counter | 2 |
| to a provision of the federal Clean Water Act that prohibits | 3 |
| any downgrade in water quality near a pollution source, such as | 4 |
| the British Petroleum refinery; and | 5 |
| WHEREAS, Indiana State regulators are allowing British | 6 |
| Petroleum to install equipment that mixes its toxic waste with | 7 |
| clean lake water about 200 feet offshore, and actively diluting | 8 |
| pollution in this way is banned in Lake Michigan under Indiana | 9 |
| law; and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, The Indiana Department of Environmental | 11 |
| Management granted British Petroleum the first-ever exemption | 12 |
| to allow the pollution "mixing zone" in Lake Michigan; and | 13 |
| WHEREAS, Environmental regulators remain unsure about the | 14 |
| ecological effects of the relatively new refining process that | 15 |
| British Petroleum plans to use and the increased discharge into | 16 |
| Lake Michigan; and | 17 |
| WHEREAS, State and federal environmental regulators have | 18 |
| agreed that there is not enough room at the British Petroleum | 19 |
| site to upgrade the refinery's water treatment plant; and | 20 |
| WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection Agency | 21 |
| has not objected to the State of Indiana's decision to allow |
|
|
|
HR0626 |
- 3 - |
LRB095 12796 CMK 38181 r |
|
| 1 |
| the increased discharge by British Petroleum; 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 |
| strongly urge the United States Environmental Protection | 5 |
| Agency to follow a strict interpretation of the federal Clean | 6 |
| Water Act to minimize any additional pollution into Lake | 7 |
| Michigan; and be it further
| 8 |
| RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Environmental | 9 |
| Protection Agency to prohibit the Whiting, Indiana British | 10 |
| Petroleum refinery from increasing the refinery's current | 11 |
| discharges of ammonia and sludge into Lake Michigan until the | 12 |
| ecological and environmental impact of the increased | 13 |
| discharges is fully understood by federal and state | 14 |
| environmental regulators; and be it further
| 15 |
| RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Environmental | 16 |
| Protection Agency to require more investigation into the | 17 |
| possibility of expanding the British Petroleum refinery's | 18 |
| water treatment plant before allowing the refinery to proceed | 19 |
| with current plans for increased pollution discharge into Lake | 20 |
| Michigan; and be it further | 21 |
| RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois delegation to the | 22 |
| United States Congress to take legislative action against any |
|
|
|
HR0626 |
- 4 - |
LRB095 12796 CMK 38181 r |
|
| 1 |
| planned increase in the discharge of pollution into Lake | 2 |
| Michigan that is contrary to the federal Clean Water Act and | 3 |
| threatens the health of the environment of this State; and be | 4 |
| it further | 5 |
| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 6 |
| delivered to each member of the Illinois delegation to the | 7 |
| United States Congress, to the administrator of the United | 8 |
| States Environmental Protection Agency, Stephen L. Johnson, | 9 |
| and to the Great Lakes National Program Manager for the United | 10 |
| States Environmental Protection Agency, Mary A. Gade.
|
|