[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 6, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E5-E6]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           BAD POLLUTERS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARK STEVEN KIRK

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 6, 2009

  Mr. KIRK. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to stand here today to 
introduce this bipartisan legislation that will help protect the Great 
Lakes from harmful pollution that poisons our water and closes our 
beaches. The Great Lakes are the world's largest freshwater system and 
serve as a source of drinking water, food, jobs and recreation for more 
than thirty million Americans. It is critical that we enhance our 
restoration efforts for this critical resource, not degrade the 
condition of the lakes even further.
  In 2007, British Petroleum (BP) threatened to begin a billion-dollar 
expansion of its refinery facility in Whiting, Indiana which would have 
included a large increase of pollution into the Great Lakes. The 
company sought to discharge an increase of 54 percent more ammonia and 
35 percent more sludge into Lake Michigan per day. This would have 
totaled a combined increase of more than 1,800 pounds per day of these 
pollutants which strangle aquatic life and contribute to the increasing 
number of beach closures each year.
  Based on a provision in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, BP was 
eligible for a tax credit that would have allowed them to expense half 
of the capital costs in the first year of the expansion. Essentially, 
the government would have paid the company to pollute our lakes. While 
providing incentives to energy production and refinery expansion helps 
to lower gas prices and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we must 
not do so at the expense of one of America's most treasured natural 
resources.
  Fortunately, BP yielded to public pressure and chose not to move 
ahead with the expansion as planned. Due to the determination and 
cooperation of federal, state and local officials, environmental 
advocacy organizations and communities around the region, BP is now 
working with a coalition of scientists and small businesses to seek an 
environmentally friendly way to expand its refinery.
  While I applaud BP for making the right decision in the end, we must 
ensure that no refinery ever comes as close to drastically harming our 
precious lakes. That is why I am introducing the Bad Polluters Act, 
which will deny the capital expensing tax credit to any refiner whose 
facility's NPDES permit allows for an increase in any pollutant above 
its 2006 levels into the Great Lakes. This will prevent companies from 
seeking to increase pollution into our

[[Page E6]]

drinking water. In order to claim this important tax credit, companies 
will be forced to search a bit harder for a new solution to water 
treatment. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and join in 
the fight to protect our national treasure.

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