Enviros happy with proposal for Ind. oil refinery

EAST CHICAGO, Ind. — Environmentalists say they’re happy that a proposed permit change would require oil giant BP PLC to assess whether new technologies might help the company cut mercury discharges at the northwestern Indiana refinery it’s expanding.

The Times of Munster reports a handful of activists attended a Thursday public hearing on Indiana regulators’ proposed permit modification that includes requiring BP to study new ways to cut emissions of the heavy metal at its Whiting refinery.

The refinery along Lake Michigan is undergoing a $3.8 billion expansion to process more heavy Canadian crude.

Natural Resources Defense Council senior attorney Ann Alexander says she’s glad state regulators want to require BP to look at new ways to cut the expanded refinery’s mercury releases.

BP says it’s committed to complying with environmental rules.