Letter to Mr. Robert A. Malone, President of BP America

Letter

Letter to Mr. Robert A. Malone, President of BP America

Durbin, Emanuel: Call on BP to Publicly Commit to Protecting the Great Lakes

Following their meeting with President of BP America Robert A. Malone, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) released the following letter calling on BP to advertise its intention to operate under the old dumping permit as public commitment to protecting the Great Lakes.

The following is the text of the letter:

Dear Mr. Malone,

Thank you for taking the time to meet with us on Monday. We appreciated the opportunity to discuss your company's decision to stay within the old wastewater effluent permit limits as you move forward with the expansion of the Whiting, Indiana refinery. More importantly, we were pleased to hear that the commitment to forgo increased discharging into Lake Michigan goes beyond a personal commitment and reflects BP policy.

In light of that promise, we would like to reiterate the recommendation that BP publicly advertise its intention to operate under the old permit just as your company ran full page ads prior to this decision. Since you do not intend to amend the permit or otherwise codify plans to operate under the old permit, an advertisement would be a welcome illustration of BP's public commitment to protecting the Great Lakes.

We appreciate your understanding of just how important Lake Michigan is to the City of Chicago and the entire Great Lakes region. We look forward to continuing to work with you to make sure that BP's green reputation is both deserved and recognized.

Sincerely,

Richard J. Durbin
U.S. Senator

Rahm Emanuel
Member of Congress

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