BP's Whiting, Indiana Refinery

We Americans complain that our gas is too expensive, but we continue to buy foreign oil, support foreign economies, and not invest in our own resources. The simple fact is Oil prices are determined in the Middle East where they decide how many barrels they are going to provide to us, but what's more is, because of crazy environmentalists, even if more crude oil was produced we are not able to refine it into usable gasoline. We are at maximum capacity, and the laws over the companies that can refine oil into usable gasoline are so restrictive that it makes little to no sense for them to expand their capacity by upgrading their plants or building new ones.

Let's take BP's Whiting, Indiana refinery for example. They would like to invest $3 Billion dollars into the plant to modernize the equipment and process crude oil from Canada, a source we know to be secure and reliable. They are being blocked because people are saying that they will be dumping "sludge" into Lake Michigan. Who out there can possibly believe this to be true? How much oversight is there on these refinery's already by wacko environmentalists that anyone can possibly believe that anyone could get away with this? The only thing that will be released from the plant into Lake Michigan is treated water that is 99.9% pure water. All sludge is treated separately according to State and Federal requirements, and if these procedures were not followed everyone would be crying foul. No company could dream of getting away with this sort of atrocity today.

By blocking this expansion people are blocking BP from investing $150 Million to further enhance the plant's wastewater treatment facility. The plant has already reduced total suspended solids in it water discharge by 40% in the past four years, but instead of recognizing that, the plant is being accused of polluting.

And what of the economy? In the day where America is losing manufacturing jobs by the thousands and millions to other developing countries, BP is being blocked from adding an additional 2000 contract workers that would come from the local communities. BP is offering to add manufacturing jobs to a state that desperately needs them, but because a few people have a loud voice with misrepresented facts these people will never get the jobs.

While forming an opinion on this I would recommend you read BP's release on this issue, and make sure you have all the facts before sticking your neck out too far.