I normally don’t talk about oil refineries or news stories, but when I heard about this story at the Chicago Tribune, I had to read it for myself. It was about BP factory in Whiting, Indiana and the proposed expansion of the U.S. refinery. The article was written in a way that was truthful but a little misleading. It spoke in a manner that was more to stir the pot than to tell the facts, something that the media has been accused of doing more than once. As a former journalist, controversy sells and a lot of it depends upon how it is presented.
BP has responded the the article by providing a fact sheet that addresses each point of the article. One point of contention is that the article makes it sound like BP is exempt from following federal regulations and has carte blanche when it comes to disposing of its waste in Lake Michigan.
While BP might have been given special provisions because of the $3 million planned upgrade to the facility, it doesn’t mean that they are working outside of the law especially considering BP’s commitment to the environment. BP refutes the claim that they dump a massive amount of sludge into Lake Michigan citing that sludge is treated separately and is never discharged into Lake Michigan.
BP says that they follow all state and federal requirements and none of the water leaving their system is harmful to humans or animals. The upgrades to the plant will create new jobs and allow BP to handle more crude oil from Canada, which will be done in part to alleviate some of the need to get crude oil from the Middle East.
Here is a link to the Chicago Tribune article on BP facility in Whiting, Indiana. You will have to sign up for a free account with the Chicago Tribune to read the article. Here is also a link to the BP fact sheet to come to your own conclusions.
What really lacks in the Chicago Tribune is sources, especially at the beginning of the article where it’s probably most important. Facts quoted with a blanket source as “legislators” or “state officials” are hard to track and determine just exactly what was said. I do agree with this editorial piece on the issue that since BP does have a commitment to the environment that watch groups or others make sure they live up to their end of the deal.
