BP's Mercury Imperils Great Lakes Fish

What good is a law if it doesn't have to followed? That's what advocates for the health of the Great Lakes -- and of the fish-eating public -- are asking, after Indiana granted BP an exemption from federal law that allows it to dump more mercury into Lake Michigan above allowable levels set in 1995.

The BP refinery discharged about 37 times that allowable limit, according to its last report. The petroleum giant would have until 2012 to meet the federal standards, which by that time will be 17 years old. The refinery expansion plan has also drawn fire for planned increases to pollution of other chemicals, though those increases are within the bounds of the law.

With mercury, the strict limits on discharges have a real purpose: protecting the development of children. If pregnant women, or those that are breastfeeding, eat too much fish contaminated with mercury, it can impair the development of the brain. Same goes for children under the age of 15. So while this issue may sound isolated to a plant in Indiana, it actually has far reaching effects for the many people who fish Lake Michigan, and the generation of children that could be harmed by too much mercury in the diet.

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