Full Text of SR0299 95th General Assembly
SR0299enr 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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SR0299 Enrolled |
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| SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 299
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| WHEREAS, Lake Michigan is a valuable fresh water resource | 3 |
| for the State of Illinois; and
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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 total suspended solids (for a | 15 |
| total discharge of 4,925 pounds of sludge per day) on a daily | 16 |
| basis, running contrary to years of efforts to clean up the | 17 |
| Great Lakes; and
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| WHEREAS, Ammonia promotes algae blooms that can kill fish | 19 |
| in the Lake; and
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| WHEREAS, The increased discharge into the Lake runs counter |
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SR0299 Enrolled |
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| to a provision of the federal Clean Water Act that prohibits | 2 |
| any downgrade in water quality near a pollution source, such as | 3 |
| the British Petroleum refinery; and | 4 |
| WHEREAS, Indiana State regulators are allowing British | 5 |
| Petroleum to install equipment that mixes its waste with clean | 6 |
| lake water about 200 feet offshore, and actively diluting | 7 |
| pollution in this way is banned in Lake Michigan under Indiana | 8 |
| law; and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, The Indiana Department of Environmental | 10 |
| Management granted British Petroleum the first-ever exemption | 11 |
| to allow the pollution "mixing zone" in Lake Michigan; and | 12 |
| WHEREAS, Environmental regulators remain unsure about the | 13 |
| ecological effects of the relatively new refining process that | 14 |
| British Petroleum plans to use and the increased discharge into | 15 |
| Lake Michigan; and | 16 |
| WHEREAS, State and federal environmental regulators have | 17 |
| agreed that there is not enough room at the British Petroleum | 18 |
| site to upgrade the refinery's water treatment plant; and | 19 |
| WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection Agency | 20 |
| has not objected to the State of Indiana's decision to allow | 21 |
| the increased discharge by British Petroleum; therefore, be it
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SR0299 Enrolled |
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | 2 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we strongly urge the | 3 |
| United States Environmental Protection Agency to follow a | 4 |
| strict interpretation of the federal Clean Water Act to | 5 |
| minimize any additional pollution into Lake Michigan; and be it | 6 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That we urge British Petroleum to review and | 8 |
| reconsider the wastewater treatment facilities proposed to | 9 |
| serve the expansion and reconfiguration of its Whiting, Indiana | 10 |
| refinery with the specific intent to supplement or enhance | 11 |
| treatment efficiencies to eliminate or reduce projected | 12 |
| increases in ammonia nitrogen and total suspended solids | 13 |
| discharged into Lake Michigan; and be it further | 14 |
| RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Environmental | 15 |
| Protection Agency to prohibit the Whiting, Indiana British | 16 |
| Petroleum refinery from increasing the refinery's current | 17 |
| discharges of ammonia and sludge into Lake Michigan until the | 18 |
| ecological and environmental impact of the increased | 19 |
| discharges is fully understood by federal and state | 20 |
| environmental regulators; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Environmental | 22 |
| Protection Agency to require more investigation into the |
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SR0299 Enrolled |
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| possibility of expanding the British Petroleum refinery's | 2 |
| water treatment plant before allowing the refinery to proceed | 3 |
| with current plans for increased pollution discharge into Lake | 4 |
| Michigan; and be it further | 5 |
| RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois delegation to the | 6 |
| United States Congress to take legislative action against any | 7 |
| planned increase in the discharge of pollution into Lake | 8 |
| Michigan that is contrary to the federal Clean Water Act and | 9 |
| threatens the health of the environment of this State; and be | 10 |
| it further | 11 |
| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 12 |
| delivered to each member of the Illinois delegation to the | 13 |
| United States Congress, to the administrator of the United | 14 |
| States Environmental Protection Agency, Stephen L. Johnson, | 15 |
| and to the Great Lakes National Program Manager for the United | 16 |
| States Environmental Protection Agency, Mary A. Gade.
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