BP confirms oil spill into Lake Michigan from Whiting refinery

[MindMover]

Source: Chicago Tribune

Less than a year after BP started up a new unit to process Canadian tar sands at its Whiting refinery, the company reported today that a malfunction allowed a slug of crude oil into Lake Michigan a few miles away from the Chicago city limits.

It remains unclear how much oil spilled into the lake or how long the discharge continued. Workers at the refinery reported an oil sheen on the water about 4:30 p.m. Monday, and an official from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the leak was plugged by the time he arrived at 9 p.m.

Mike Beslow, the EPA’s emergency response coordinator, said there appeared to be no negative effects on Lake Michigan, the source of drinking water for 7 million people in Chicago and the suburbs. The 68th Street water intake crib is about eight miles northwest of the spill site, but there were no signs of oil drifting in that direction.

Initial reports suggest that strong winds pushed most of the oil toward a sandy cove on BP’s property between the refinery and an Arcelor Mittal steel mill. A flyover Tuesday afternoon revealed no visible oil beyond booms laid on the water to prevent the oil from spreading, Beslow said.

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-bp-whiting-crude-oil-lake-michigan-spill-20140325,0,3069441.story

---

I say NO to Keystone ...

[leftyohiolib]

1. and our potus just gave them the ok to drill the ocean again

[PumpkinAle]

2. Lake Michigan, the source of drinking water for 7 million people

no big deal really -

And they want less regulations?!?!?!

Oh, and don't forget that this will affect gas prices, because you know BP doesn't want to pay for any clean up.

[Dustlawyer]

5. No, BP will put on a show initially for the cameras. Then they assure the Press that everything

is under control, media goes back to missing plane.
Chicago will see Iris Cross (PR smiling woman who appeared on the airwaves constantly in Galveston/Texas City/Houston and then on the Gulf Coast after the Deepwater Horizon) who well tell them their "drinking water is safe", "BP cares", "We're going to take care of it." They will saturate the market so that the media would not dare to write a story about the victims etc. The media does not want to lose all that money!
BP stands for British Petroleum as you know. Ever wonder why BRITISH Petroleum, the preeminent company in all of England, sponsored the last 2 U.S. Olympic Teams?
The real problem is that CEO's like their bonuses and thus, they like staying CEO. To do that they have to pay big Dividends. That means gutting costs down to toilet paper (bring your own) and mowing their grounds 1/2 as often. They won't fix anything more than to get it working again with baling wire and Band Aids.
Watch out Chicago! Good Luck!

[MindMover]

8. so unfortunately true ...nt

[WatermelonRat]

3. What exactly is a "slug" of crude oil?

Is it some obscure unit of measurement or industry jargon?

[Godhumor]

9. Jargon.

A pipeline that handles both gas and liquid at the same time is usually in balance between those two states. If an imbalance occurs where either the gas or liquid becomes the major commodity running through a pipe this causes a plug. Those plugs are known as slugs and represent a higher volume of liquid or gas than normal. A large dog can overwhelm the system and escape as happened in this case.

[undeterred]

4. When it used to be Amoco they polluted the whole neighborhood

so you could smell it when you were getting close... of course the people who lived there could never get away from the stink.

[marble falls]

6. BP and tar sand? What possibly could go wrong.................

[MindMover]

7. exactly ... nt

[sakabatou]

10. We cannot trust such companies

They'll poison the water and never care.

[tomm2thumbs]

11. 'there appeared to be no negative effects on Lake Michigan'

I suggest he take a nice swig from the surface and then say that again