[BCNnet] BP executive addresses media reports about Whiting Refinery

[Carolyn A. Marsh]

http://nwitimes.com/articles/2007/07/21/news/top_news/doc2733cdb4fbb15f1c862
5731e005f59c6.prt

Date posted online: Saturday, July 21, 2007
BP executive addresses media reports about Whiting Refinery 


 


 

Editor's note: Dan Sajkowski, business unit leader at the BP Whiting
Refinery, this week issued the following letter in response to media reports
on the refinery's discharge of wastewater into Lake Michigan. The letter was
edited slightly for space considerations.

You may have seen recent news reports about wastewater discharge at BP's
refinery in Whiting. I hope to clarify issues, provide some important
information, and address questions you may have.

BP's Whiting refinery produces gasoline, diesel and jet fuel for much of the
Midwest U.S. The refinery also has about 1,700 BP employees and another
2,000 contract workers who live in the Great Lakes area. BP is planning an
investment of more than $3 billion to modernize the refinery so that it
continues to provide the reliable fuel supply people need well into the
future. 

Our modernization plans focus on America's need for energy security and
diversity. Through upgrades at Whiting, BP will be able to process
additional heavy crude oil from Canada, a secure, reliable and sustainable
source. The refinery currently runs about 30 percent heavy Canadian crude.
The reconfigured refinery will run about 90 percent. Processing the
additional Canadian crude will result in changes to the refinery, some that
require new environmental permits.

The refinery today operates a modern wastewater plant paired with processes
that meet or exceed federal and state regulatory requirements. The facility
uses the best available wastewater treatment technology used in refining.
Our modernization plans include investing about $150 million to further
enhance this wastewater treatment capability.

Some recent news reports stated that the refinery discharges "sludge"
directly into Lake Michigan, and that it will substantially increase. That
is not true. The refinery does not and will not discharge sludge into the
lake. The refinery discharges only treated water into the lake. Treated
wastewater is more than 99.999 percent water. The remainder is salt,
nutrients, organics and inorganics that are not dissolved in water, and are
so small they pass through fine filtration systems. All wastewater sludges
are treated separately, according to state and federal requirements, and
never discharged to Lake Michigan.

Reports have also focused on an increased discharge of ammonia allowed under
the terms of the new permit. U.S. federal and Indiana state regulations
limit the amount of ammonia allowable in wastewater discharge. These
regulations are based upon best available technology, refinery size and
complexity and are designed to protect the overall water quality of Lake
Michigan.

The new permit allows the refinery's average ammonia discharge to increase
from 1,030 pounds per day to 1,584 pounds per day; however, US Environmental
Protection Agency guidelines could allow as much as 3,358 pounds per day --
more than double the refinery's newly permitted ammonia discharge limit.
Also, it is important to remember that these permit numbers are maximum
limits; on a daily average basis, actual discharges by the Whiting Refinery
are substantially less. In fact, as an ISO 14001 certified site, we have
reduced total suspended solids by 40 percent in just the past four years.

The refinery will install a diffuser system and create a mixing zone to
ensure that any possible increase in treated water discharges does not
negatively impact water quality. Mixing zones, which the U.S. EPA allows in
every state, are used to develop permit limit discharges into surface waters
such as the Great Lakes. Mixing zones are not an exemption from
environmental regulation and are explicitly authorized under Indiana law.
The permit strictly regulates the amount of constituents in a mixing zone.

BP worked openly and closely with the EPA, IDEM, environmental organizations
and the public in the development of the permit, and all state and federal
requirements were met. Every step has been done properly, in full public
view and with the oversight of regulators whose guidelines ensure that
aquatic and human life are protected. [My emphasis, Carolyn]

Our water discharge from the Whiting refinery is within regulated limits
now, and will be in the future. BP has implemented best practices for water
re-use and reduction company-wide and is committed to staying on the cutting
edge of technology that will help lessen the impact our operations have on
the environment. BP is also committed to an open dialogue with interested
stakeholders.

We will continue to seek solutions that further reduce emissions as our
plans to modernize the refinery move forward.

Respectfully,

Dan Sajkowski

BP Whiting Refinery Business Unit Leader

 

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