I.The BP Lake Michigan Pollution Fight

In June 2007, the state of Indiana proposed issuing a permit pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) to the BP (British Petroleum) Oil Company for the discharge of 1, pounds of ammonia and 4, pounds of suspended solids daily into Lake Michigan from BP's Whiting, Indiana, refinery. BP sought the permit as part of a $3 billion expansion of its Whiting facility's capacity to refine heavy crude oil from Alberta, Canada. The BP Whiting refinery, originally built in 1889 by John D. Rockefeller, is now the fourth largest refinery in the country. The permit was issued by Indiana in August 2007, with almost no opposition from within the state. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels supported the refinery expansion and permit issuance, lauding it as "another huge step in Indiana's economic comeback."

However, once news of the refinery expansion and permit issuance spread to neighboring Illinois, public and political opposition was dramatic. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and then- Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois harshly criticized both BP and Indiana. One Republican lawmaker from Chicago attacked BP's marketing claims of "beyond petroleum" as really standing for "bad polluter." The rock band Pearl Jam sang a protest song "Don't Go to BP Amoco" at the Lollapolloza music festival in Chicago. Over 50, citizens signed petitions opposing the plant expansion and permit.