Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Mitch Daniels Can't Swim

That's why he has promoted a permit to allow BP to expand its Indiana refinery on Lake Michigan. The new permit will allow the refinery to discharge 1,584 pounds of ammonia, an increase of 54 percent over the current level, into the lake each day. Also allowed is discharge of up to 4,925 pounds of suspended solids into the lake each day, an increase of 35 percent.

“Here’s one of the biggest steps forward for the Midwest, really the whole nation,” Mr. Daniels, a Republican, told reporters last week. “I don’t think it should be held up without a good scientific reason, and none has been provided.”

Sources close to Mr. Daniels have suggested that his hatred of the lake is linked to a summer swimming class he took at Lil Patriots' Summer Camp on Lake Michigan in the early 1960s, where he nearly drowned.

His reasoning for promoting further pollution of Lake Michigan (besides the fact that he most likely can't swim)? The expansion of the plant may provide up to 2,000 temporary contract jobs and 80 positions at the refinery.

More Indiana jobs, but at what cost? Seriously. How short sighted can you get?

In the meantime, tens of thousands of people in Chicago have signed petitions protesting the permit, which will allow the largest oil refinery in the Midwest to discharge more pollutants into Lake Michigan.

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