BP Whiting Refinery

It's not secret that I am a nature lover and spend a lot of my time outdoors. As such, I am concerned about the environment. You read that I saw Inconvenient Truth a few weeks back, and how I changed my life to immediately see what I, personally, could do to help reduce my impact on the environment. I have made changes, and it's a mindset...I'm constantly thinking "reduce-reuse-recycle", and keeping up with news articles related to this topic, so that I am "in the know". The Chicago Tribune recently reported here that the BP oil refinery in Whiting Indiana is planning to dump more ammonia and sludge into Lake Michigan, hampering recent efforts to clean all of the Great Lakes. I have been to all of the Great Lakes but for one, and I support any effort to keep them clean and natural...they are a beautiful sight to behold. However, we should gather all the facts before we report things that send readers into a frenzy. We all know that the news is slanted, right? Yeah. Happens here locally all the time. What the Tribune article does not report, is that BP is releasing only treated water into Lake Michigan, and that all sludge is treated according to state and federal requirements,with no harm to people or the environment, and NEVER discharged into Lake Michigan. Oh, and they are expanding this refinery to start processing Canadian crude oil, a secure and reliable source. Wait..you mean there's oil right at our Neighbors to the north? You mean we don't have to get it from the Arabs? Has anyone told our President this news? Yeah. You see where this is going right? Don't even get me started. BP promotes themselves as an environmentally friendly company, I'm sure you've seen the commercials, they have an ultimate fuel that reduces pollution, and are one of the world's biggest investors in lower carbon fuels and technology. The Whiting refinery, that is such a bad neighbor according to the article in the Chicago Tribune, has reduced total suspended solids in it's water discharge by 40% over the past 4 years...I think that's a big step towards helping the environment. Read the article, make your own decision...but read the article here as well, so that you can see ALL the facts and not just half of them..and then form your own opinion.