By Gitte Laasby, Post-Tribune staff writer
The organization hopes the lawsuit will send BP and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management back to the drawing board to draft a new, more stringent permit.
The NRDC also is asking for construction to stop while the company applies for a new permit, and for civil penalties to be assessed against BP of up to $32,500 per day for each day it has undergone construction without the proper permit.
"The permits simply do not protect the public and do not live up to the law. The failure of Indiana and BP to take the public interest and the law seriously has forced the issue and required that this case be brought before the federal courts," said Ann Alexander, senior attorney with the NRDC.
The NRDC argues that BP and IDEM did not properly account for increases in pollution that will result from the refinery modernization, mainly from flares that burn off excess gas.
The refinery emits several pollutants that irritate the respiratory system and cause health hazards for people living downwind, the organization said.
The NRDC said because the refinery will increase its air pollution by significant amounts, the law requires BP to operate under a more stringent permit and control its emissions with better pollution control equipment. BP and IDEM have contested that, saying they did account for all emissions.
"BP is committed to finding ways to strike the right balance between U.S. energy security, increased gasoline supply and environmental stewardship," BP spokeswoman Sarah Howell said in a statement. "This project has and will continue to undergo intense regulatory scrutiny and will comply with state and federal regulations governing protection of human health and the environment."
IDEM could not be reached for comment.
The goal of the appeal is not to stop the refinery expansion, but to make sure BP has the proper permit, Alexander said. "It doesn't matter Indiana handed you a piece of paper, it's the wrong piece of paper and you aren't allowed to do construction until you get the right one," she said. "The legal framework says we can stop them from constructing without a permit. There's a larger question of whether this expansion is good policy or not, but that's outside the scope of this proceeding."
The appeal was filed in the Hammond Division of the Northern District of Indiana federal court. When a hearing may take place is not known.
NRDC is assisting as legal counsel in a similar state case brought by a coalition of Indiana environmental groups before the Indiana Office of Environmental Adjudication.