EDITORIAL: Let's hope BP won't have to discharge plant expansion

Times of Northwest Indiana

BP, responding to the intense barrage of criticism over the emissions from its Whiting Refinery expansion, has now promised not to use the terms of its lawfully obtained permit.

This bow to pressure could backfire.

The company has been straightforward about the whole water pollution permit process. It obtained the discharge permit after two years of discussion with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

Along the way, BP and IDEM did more public outreach than usual on this permit. After the permit was granted, Illinois politicians launched an attack on BP for the higher limits granted under the new permit.

Because of the unusual, if not unique, situation the energy giant has faced with this criticism, BP on Thursday committed to not increase its discharge limits. Instead, it will honor the terms of the old permit.

The company said it will seek technological solutions so it can move forward with the $3.8 billion expansion that would allow the plant to process heavy Canadian crude oil and increase production of fuels by about 15 percent.

"We are going to work hard to make this project succeed," said Bob Malone, BP America chairman and president.

We hope that process will work. But what if it doesn't?

"If necessary changes to the project result in a material impact to project viability, we could be forced to cancel it," Malone said.

That means the new technology must not just be possible, but also cost-effective.

If the project is scuttled, the region will pay the price in terms of the thousands of jobs building and then operating the plant would bring.

Not only that, but the entire Midwest could suffer from gas prices escalating even higher, because of tighter supplies, and an increasing reliance on oil from the Middle East and the political price that brings.

Let us hope the out-of-state complainers haven't killed this project.

And while we're at it, let's have each community complaining about BP's emissions show us what their own wastewater treatment plants put into lakes and streams and what those communities plan to do to clean up their own act.