BP must pay nearly $3M for dangerous air pollution violations at Indiana refinery

Oil industry-giant BP must pay up for repeated violations at its northwest Indiana oil refinery. Again.

In a settlement announced this week, BP agreed to pay nearly $3 million dollars in penalties and for environmental projects to resolve a 2019 lawsuit that charged the company with repeatedly releasing illegal levels of dangerous air pollution at its Whiting refinery.

That refinery located near Lake Michigan is one of the oldest and largest in the U.S., with the capacity to process more than 400,000 barrels of crude oil every day.

“The plant is huge and it has had violations in the past and will have them in the future, so it’s important to get on them and show that we are still watching,” said Eric Schaeffer, the executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project, an environmental law nonprofit which represented the Sierra Club in the suit.

BP spokeswoman Christina Audisho said in an emailed statement the company is “glad that the parties have agreed to resolve this case and dismiss these claims against the Whiting refinery.” She added that BP’s commitment to “safe, compliant and reliable operations” at the Whiting refinery and across its global operations remains “unwavering.”

What is the violation?

During the three years between August 2015 and October 2018, the suit filed in 2019 alleged nine emissions tests of the refinery’s smokestacks revealed releases of microscopic soot-like particles above permitted levels.

The fine particulate matter, also known as PM10, can be very dangerous to human health, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. More than five-times smaller than a human hair, they can penetrate deep into the lungs and trigger wheezing, asthma attacks, heart attacks and strokes. Heavy exposure can cause premature death.

What is the penalty? 

BP must pay $1.75 million in civil penalties for Clean Air Act monitoring and enforcement.

Indiana also collected a penalty of about $250,000, and BP will reimburse the Sierra Club for legal expenses.

What are the environmental projects? 

BP agreed to pay $1 million for projects in the community, including $500,000 to plant trees around the refinery and areas near Lake Michigan, Wolf Lake and Lost Marsh Golf Course.

The company will also give $500,000 to local school districts for air filtration systems inside school buildings.

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Is there a fix to the problem?

The agreement will not fix the problem. That is because shortly after the judge’s April 2021 ruling — on the same day — the Indiana Department of Environmental Management issued a modified air pollution permit removing the very permit limits BP had just been found to have violated.

So the settlement could not require the company to make changes to comply with a limit that no longer existed.

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What is the history of violations? 

This is not the first time the refinery has been cited for violations at its Whiting refinery. Last year BP paid $512,000 for regularly violating emission limits in a different part of the refinery.

Call IndyStar reporter Sarah Bowman at 317-444-6129 or email at sarah.bowman@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook: @IndyStarSarah. Connect with IndyStar’s environmental reporters: Join The Scrub on Facebook.

IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: BP must pay $2.75M for repeated pollution violations at Indiana refinery