Judge Rules BP Violated Pollution Standards

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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA federal judge in Hammond has ruled BP’s Whiting refinery has repeatedly violated air pollution standards in recent years and did not take corrective action.
Our partners at The Times of Northwest Indiana report U.S. District Court Judge Philip Simon issued a decision this week in a lawsuit filed in 2019 against the petroleum company.
The suit was filed by the Indianapolis chapter of the California-based Sierra Club.
According to the publication, the judge found BP emitted illegally high levels of airborne particulate matter from power-generating boilers on several occasions between 2015 and 2018.
The judge ruled BP failed to correct and retest its emissions as required by the federal and state permits governing the refinery’s operations.
The Times reports the judge has not ruled on whether BP will have to pay monetary damages Sierra Club lawyers are seeking.
BP says it conducted eight tests between August 2015 and October 2018 that detected emissions above those permitted by Clean Air Act standards.