Environmental group outlines concerns over Whiting Refinery permit renewal
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A Chicago-based environmental advocacy group is calling out what it says are serious defects in the air permit renewal for the BP Whiting Refinery in northwest Indiana.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is currently reviewing the refinery’s permit after closing a public comment period.
The Environmental Law & Policy Center submitted its comments to IDEM this week, citing concerns over alleged poor emissions monitoring, a failure to include a compliance schedule for reporting the broad variety of emissions results, a failure to install fenceline air monitoring equipment and a failure to assess the refinery’s environmental impact on neighboring communities.
“IDEM has a responsibility to draft air permits that will assure BP’s compliance with federal emission limits,” Kerri Gefeke, associate attorney at ELPC, said in a news release. “This permit fails because it is missing key components including certain monitoring provisions for various pollutants. IDEM needs to go back to the drawing board and make sure the permit is complete and enforceable.”
The air permit for the Whiting Refinery is up for renewal every five years. A spokesperson for IDEM told Inside INdiana Business a decision on the renewal has not yet been made, and a timeline for a decision is not known.
The spokesperson said the department needs time to review public comments, draft responses to those comments, and make any final revisions to the permit. The proposed final permit will be sent to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which will have 45 days to review it.
“IDEM makes permitting decisions within the structure of federal law and Indiana state code,” the spokesperson said. “Any decision regarding the approval of a permit renewal is determined by whether the permit meets all applicable state and federal requirements.
The ELPC also said that its concerns were heightened because of emissions that were released during a power outage at the refinery last month. The city of Whiting said in a statement at that time that the refinery flared its stacks as a safety measure to burn off excess product while crews worked to restore power.
The public hearing regarding the air permit, however, was not related to the incident.
“BP is committed to safe and compliant operations at the Whiting Refinery – and we’re also committed to being a good neighbor in Northwest Indiana, where we have been a major investor, employer, fuel supplier and member of the community for more than 130 years,” a BP spokesperson said in a statement to IIB. “An air permit is essential to the refinery’s ability to continue operating, and renewing it will enable BP to continue to make investments in the site – and the region’s economy – for years to come.”
In May 2023, the Biden Administration announced BP had agreed to pay a $40 million penalty and invest about $197 million in technology improvements over a several year period to control releases of benzene and other contaminants at the refinery.
Among the improvements were adding equipment to strip benzene from wastewater streams flowing to its lakefront treatment plant, a $5 million project to reduce diesel emissions in nearby communities, and installing air pollution monitoring devices, including three along the refinery’s fence line.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.