Friday, August 21, 2009
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) held a public meeting this week to discuss proposed water pollution rules for Lake Michigan. ELPC and the members of the public are worried that poorly crafted regulations could lead to a controversy similar to 2007, when BP was permitted to dump mercury into Lake Michigan.
ELPC is concerned, in particular, that the proposed rules don’t address nitrogen and phosphorus – pollutants that have created a huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico and could have similar effects on Indiana waters. As ELPC Senior Attorney Albert Ettinger told the Post Tribune, “I don’t think these rules are acceptable because they’re going to exempt very important pollutants that will have a demonstrable effect on waters in Indiana.”
Read the full article in the Post Tribune
Monday, August 10, 2009
Two years ago, BP made headlines with its plans to expand its oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana and dump additional pollution into Lake Michigan. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management had issued a permit allowing the added pollution. When the public – and ELPC and our environmental colleagues – expressed outrage over the news, BP eventually announced that it would proceed with its plans without adding more pollution into the Lake. Since that time, Indiana’s water quality rules, which had allowed the increase in pollution, have still not been improved.
The state’s current anti-degradation rules could allow BP or another company to increase the amount of ammonia and silty materials it dumps into the lake without examining cleaner alternatives. ELPC Senior Attorney Albert Ettinger and Staff Attorney Brad Klein told the Indiana press about their concerns that another pollution controversy could emerge if the state doesn’t improve its clean water rules.
Read the full story in the Post-Tribune.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
ELPC Senior Attorney Albert Ettinger spoke to the Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana about a bill that would allow increased nitrogen and phosphorus pollution to be dumped into Lake Michigan. Scientists believe that phosporus and nitrogen are responsible in part for large amounts of algae that wash up and rot on beaches in Wisconsin and Michigan.
Ettinger said that the bill, proposed by Indiana Senator Beverly Gard, would prevent the Indiana Department of Environmental Management from calculating the amount of pollution entering Indiana’s waters. The bill could also undermine attempts to improve impaired waters so they could be used for swimming or fishing.
Read the full story here
