BP pollution tiff hits Chicago bond underwriters

CHICAGO -- A powerful Chicago alderman, upset about oil company BP's plan to release more pollutants from an Indiana refinery into Lake Michigan, says municipal bond underwriting firms with ties to BP will be excluded from city business.

Alderman Edward Burke, chairman of the city's finance committee, informed the city's chief financial officer in a letter dated Thursday that he will cut off Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Bank of America from participating in city bond sales and other city business due to interlocking relationships between the firms and BP's board of directors.

BP's board chairman is Peter Sutherland, who is also chairman of Goldman Sachs International, according to BP's Web site. Dr. Walter Massey serves on both BP's and Bank of America's boards.

Scott Dean, a BP spokesman, said the oil company did not receive an invitation to the council meeting, but was talking to a number of city officials about the Whiting, Ind., refinery and the company's plans to protect the lake.

Bank of America spokesman Scott Silvestri said the firm understands "the valid environmental concerns of the mayor and Alderman Burke," adding that the firm values its business relationship with the city.

A spokesman for Goldman Sachs declined to comment.