admin
08-20-2007, 07:54 AM
"Although officials at BP's Whiting refinery admit the facility dumps about 37,000 pounds of ammonia in Lake Michigan each year, members of a government watchdog group, OMB Watch, say the public is misled because the company is required to report to the EPA only 10 percent of that amount.
Moreover, the watchdogs say, the EPA system meant to inform the public of chemical releases by industry gives an incomplete snapshot of what is actually being dumped into the environment nationwide.
Federal reporting law, criticized by the Washington-based watchdog group OMB Watch, requires BP and other companies only to report to the EPA -- and therefore the public -- about 10 percent of the ammonia it dumps into Lake Michigan."
The Toxics Release Inventory, or TRI, which the EPA uses to inform the public of chemical discharges by companies, is not telling the public the whole story, according to OMB Watch.
An EPA spokesman said the goal is not to mislead citizens researching their community's pollution but to tell them what they need to know.
OMB Watch, a nonprofit watchdog focusing on regulatory policy, has been a vocal critic of the TRI and past EPA changes in lowering TRI reporting limits.
For more information:
http://www.thetimesonline.com/articl...3b0081a83d.txt
Moreover, the watchdogs say, the EPA system meant to inform the public of chemical releases by industry gives an incomplete snapshot of what is actually being dumped into the environment nationwide.
Federal reporting law, criticized by the Washington-based watchdog group OMB Watch, requires BP and other companies only to report to the EPA -- and therefore the public -- about 10 percent of the ammonia it dumps into Lake Michigan."
The Toxics Release Inventory, or TRI, which the EPA uses to inform the public of chemical discharges by companies, is not telling the public the whole story, according to OMB Watch.
An EPA spokesman said the goal is not to mislead citizens researching their community's pollution but to tell them what they need to know.
OMB Watch, a nonprofit watchdog focusing on regulatory policy, has been a vocal critic of the TRI and past EPA changes in lowering TRI reporting limits.
For more information:
http://www.thetimesonline.com/articl...3b0081a83d.txt