14 DAY TRIAL // This past Monday, a refinery operated by oil and gas giant BP in Withing, Indiana spilled some 10 barrels (1,589 liters) of oil into Lake Michigan.
The multinational company has not been as open about this incident as quite a lot of people would have liked it to be, hence the fact that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is now asking that BP come clean about what exactly happened at said facility on March 24.
Media reports say that, in a recent interview with the press, Mayor Rahm Emanuel argued that, although the oil spill did not occur in a region under his jurisdiction, he nonetheless had the right to demand detailed explanations concerning the incident.
This is because Lake Michigan presently serves as a water source for about 7 million people in Chicago. Thus, it is on behalf of these people that Rahm Emanuel is asking that the oil and gas giant provide a detailed account of the oil spill and its potential impact on public health and the environment.
Eco Watch informs that, in an interview with the press, the current Chicago Mayor stressed the fact that, “I want a report on what happened, how it happened, why did it happen, how much happened, and how do you prevent it from ever happening again.”
“Chicago's water was rated No. 1. I don't want anything to ever endanger it. We're investing in it. I want to make sure BP is a good corporate citizen next door in Indiana,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel reportedly went on to say.
For the time being, BP has not yet made any comments on whether or not it was to have specialists piece together a report such as the one that Chicago's mayor had in mind, and share it with the public as soon as possible. The company did however reassure that most of the oil that spilled had been recovered, and that cleanup activities were going well.
Ironically enough, the spill in Lake Michigan occurred just days after the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States ruled that the BP was to be allowed to once again seek oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico. For those unaware, the company was banned from obtaining government contracts in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010.
Following this latest oil spill for which BP is to blame, environmentalists are not exactly thrilled about the fact that the Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to let the company once again go about exploring and exploiting the Gulf of Mexico.
“The fact that literally days after BP was cleared to bid on federal oil and gas leases the company is cleaning up yet another spill—this one threatening the drinking water of 7 million people – sends a clear message,” said Valerie Love with the Center for Biological Diversity.