BP Oil Spill at Indiana Refinery Pollutes Lake Michigan

On March 24, 2014, a BP oil spill at the company’s Whiting Refinery spread crude oil over more than 5,000 square feet of Lake Michigan. The facility, located near the Chicago city limits, began discharging crude oil late Monday afternoon. The discharge was reportedly stopped at about 9 p.m. local time and has been contained. The spill resulted in small masses of semi-solid oil, also known as tarballs, accumulating along the shores of Lake Michigan. These tarballs pose a danger to seagulls and other wildlife along the beach.

Details of the BP Oil Spill

Early reports show that a mechanical failure at one of the Whiting Refinery’s crude oil distillation units rerouted oil into the water supply used to cool the facility. The rerouted oil then moved through the outflow of the cooling water into Lake Michigan. These early reports estimate that 10 to 12 barrels of oil were released during this BP oil spill. By comparison, the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill released thousands of barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico from April to July of 2010.

Company Spokesman: BP Oil Spill Contained

BP spokesman Scott Dean told reporters that the spill was contained to an area between the Whiting Refinery and a local steel mill that sits on the lakeshore. Dean also said that the company was working to clean up the damage by employing six vacuum trucks and 2,000 feet of plastic containment boom barriers. The company also released a statement that it had started an investigation into the latest BP oil spill and would determine the cause of the flaw that forced the oil to flow into water supply.

Coast Guard Reacts BP Oil Spill

The U.S. Coast Guard has taken actions in the wake of the BP oil spill. Coast Guard personnel are acting to prevent seagulls from landing on oil-stained beaches and getting stuck into the tarballs. Coast Guard helicopters have also patrolled over the affected section of the lake looking for oil sheen on the water, but have found none outside the boomed-off area. Jeremy Thomas, a Coast Guard Marine science technician first class, stated that the water conditions “have been extremely helpful (since) the winds and waves have been pushing the oil to a natural collection point.”

Environmental Agencies Complain About BP Oil Spill

Both governmental and non-profit environmental preservation agencies expressed concerns about the newest BP oil spill. The Coast Guard, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management are all reportedly working closely together to manage the impact of the spill. Nicole Barker, executive director of the Michigan City-based non-profit environmental group Save the Dunes, stated the group’s concerns about how “irreversible damage can be caused by spills into our waterways” and that the group’s “greatest hope (is) that the oil was contained before causing great harm to the Lake Michigan ecosystem.”
Source: Whiting (IN) News

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