Please do not respond to this E-mail. This is an unattended mailbox.
To communicate with Congressman Lipinski, click here.
July 20, 2007

SPECIAL REPORT FROM CONGRESSMAN DAN LIPINSKI

Lipinski Denounces BP Plan to Dump Pollution into Lake Michigan
Calls on EPA to Review Permit Issued by Indiana for Dumping of Ammonia and Sludge

Click here for text of the full press release

"I am deeply troubled by BP's plan to increase dumping of toxic materials into Lake Michigan," stated Lipinski.  "It is ironic that a company that claims to embrace environmental values is going to greatly increase the dumping of pollutants into the Great Lakes.  In the midst of another summer of record beach closings on Lake Michigan, I am asking the EPA to review Indiana's decision to grant this permit and I am strongly urging BP to reconsider their plan."

great lakes press conference
Congressman Lipinski addressing a crowd at the Shedd Aquarium
announcing the introduction of legislation to ban dumping in the Great Lakes.

Click here to view the Letter to the EPA Administrator

The Chicago Sun Times Editorial Board released the following statement in response to BP's plan to dump waste into the Great Lakes.


Chicago Suntimes Editorial: Sink BP's waste plan

Printed July 20, 2007

BP's plan to dump more waste into Lake Michigan needs to be plugged up. Even if the giant oil company proves that the extra waste it will be dumping is no threat to aquatic life or humans, we must have zero tolerance for the release of any additional pollution into our precious lake waters. Lake Michigan is a vital resource for Chicagoans -- it provides our drinking water and our beach recreation, and it inspires the soul of our city with a water border, 30 miles long. Polluting its waters affects us all.

BP recently won a permit from Indiana that will allow it to discharge 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more solid waste into the lake from its water treatment plant at its Whiting refinery. The company -- which made $22.3 billion last year -- says the higher limits will enable it to move forward with a $3 billion expansion of the refinery so it can process more Canadian heavy crude oil.

News of Indiana's action caught Chicago and Illinois officials by surprise and spurred a strong reaction. Representatives Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.) said they would try to block the expansion unless it includes better pollution controls. Chicago officials, meanwhile, will be asking people along the lakefront to sign a petition this weekend demanding that Indiana reverse its decision. The city is also exploring its legal options and hiring a consultant to review the permit.

BP, and Indiana, have plenty to say in their defense. BP is spending $150 million to upgrade its water treatment plant. The oil company argues that the extra pollutants are still within the safety range set by federal and state regulators. The solid waste isn't very solid -- it is actually diluted so much that it is not visible in the treated wastewater. To further dilute the treated water, it will be released not at the shore but about 200 feet into the lake. And, the company says, the average discharges from the refinery will typically be less than that allowed by the permit.

Fine. But it's still more pollution. And we're still not convinced that BP is doing everything it can to keep it out of the lake. With all the billions it's spending on the refinery project, it's hard to believe that BP can't do more.

A greater point is that this is the first time in years that a company has been allowed to dump more pollutants of this kind into the lake. More than a hundred years ago, when the Whiting refinery was built, environmental concerns took a back seat to industry. Cleaning up the pollution in our lakes and rivers has taken decades and billions of dollars, and we still have a ways to go.

Now is no time to be going backward.

U.S. Rep. Daniel Lipinski, a Democrat, represents Illinois' 3rd Congressional District.

© Copyright 2007 Sun-Times News Group

In other news this week:

The Chicago Tribune printed an editorial (re-printed below) co-authored by Congressman Lipinski in support of a la carte cable programming. In June, Congressman Dan Lipinski introduced the FAMILY AND CONSUMER CHOICE ACT OF 2007, legislation that would give families and consumers greater choice when it comes to cable and satellite television. H.R. 2738 is aimed at protecting children from indecent television programs by forcing cable and satellite providers to offer a modified form of a la carte programming or to make other changes in the way they operate.

For kids' sake, TV must go a la carte
A la carte pricing would give cable subscribers meaningful programming choices

July 20, 2007
By Kevin Martin, Newton N. Minow and Dan Lipinski

With the click of their remote controls, television viewers today can access some of the best programming ever produced. But as any viewer knows, networks also are offering some of the coarsest programming ever aired. More than 45 years ago, one of the authors of this essay, then-Federal Communications Commission Chairman Newton N. Minow, described TV as a "vast wasteland." He noted, "when television is good, nothing -- not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers -- nothing is better. But when television is bad, nothing is worse." That statement is truer today than it was back in 1961.

In a recent congressional hearing on the impact of TV violence on children, the senators in attendance were shown a sample of the incredibly violent fare confronting American families in their homes on a regular basis. The senators requested it be turned off before even five minutes had elapsed.

In 1961, the television industry was challenged to improve the vast wasteland of TV programming by giving its audience better, smarter and more interesting content. The greatest challenge for families now is not that there is too little programming to watch. Rather, it is finding family-friendly content in the growing sea of channels that customers must subscribe to in order to receive cable or satellite service. Click here for the entire article.

###

 

You have authorized Congressman Daniel Lipinski to send regular E-mails to your E-mail account.

If you do not wish to receive future emails from Congressman Daniel Lipinski, click here. Please include the E-mail address at which you received this update to ensure your removal from the distribution list.