Here's another story I didn't get a chance to cover during the week:
http://www.freep.com/...
With mounds of black petroleum coke visible in the distance behind him, U.S. Rep. Gary Peters announced Tuesday that he would introduce legislation next week calling for a complete study of the health and environmental impacts of the waste material being stored along the Detroit River.
“Certainly it’s time to be asking some very serious questions about the activity that is occurring here,” said Peters, D-Bloomfield Township. “We better understand the health impacts of it. We better understand how we store this properly.”
Peters was joined by a crowd of Detroit-area activists and environmentalists at a press conference on Fort Street in view of a petroleum, or pet, coke mound that has grown in recent months just east of the Ambassador Bridge along the Detroit River. A second, overflow pile is further west near Clark and Jefferson.
The coal-like mounds — a by-product of tar sands oil refining used as a cheap source of fuel — have garnered increasing attention in both the United States and Canada as they have grown in recent months, apparently without any city, state or federal government permitting prior to their appearance. Peters said it’s unclear if there are any permitting requirements for the material.
The press conference follows a letter Peters and U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, sent last week to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on the issue.
“This material is basically dirtier than the dirtiest coal,” Peters said, noting that as more tar sands oil is shipped into the United States from Canada, storage will become more of an issue because about 30% of each barrel is converted to pet coke.
The Detroit pet coke piles are produced at the Marathon Petroleum refinery in Southwest Detroit. They are managed by Detroit Bulk Storage and, according to The New York Times, owned by Koch Carbon. Andrew Hartz, southeast Michigan district coordinator for the MDEQ, said last week that Detroit Bulk Storage “has done, or is doing, everything that has been asked of them so far.” - Detroit Free Press, 5/28/13
Peters has Detroit Bulk Storage is on the defensive:
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/...
“Detroit Bulk has followed every rule and regulation as it relates to its storage and has found additional ways to enhance the safety and security around the perimeter,” said Daniel Cherrin, a public relations expert who has previously worked for the mayor’s office and several high-profile firms in Detroit.
The primary petcoke pile is on industrial and railway lands owned by Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun. Detroit Bulk Storage has been leasing the land to store the coke before it is shipped to buyers in Canada and the U.S.
There is a second “overflow” petcoke pile being handled by the company west of the bridge at Detroit Marine Terminal, a site where operational control belongs to Moroun.
Petcoke started to be produced in greater amounts at the nearby Marathon Petroleum Corp. refinery in Detroit last fall after it completed a $2 billion upgrade which for the first time allowed it to process heavy Canadian crude oil brought in by pipeline from the Alberta oilsands. - The Windsor Star, 5/29/13
Pet coke is a byproduct of tar sands. Peters used the Keystone XL Pipeline vote in the House as an opportunity to push for more scrutiny of pet coke:
http://www.michiganradio.org/...
The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would bring tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada tar through the U.S. to Gulf Coast refineries. Much of the debate around importing that oil into the U.S. for refining has centered around Keystone.
But plenty of tar sands oil is already flowing to the U.S. — including the Marathon refinery in southwest Detroit.
That’s resulted in a byproduct called petroleum coke, or “pet coke,” piling up along the Detroit River.
There’s some disagreement about exactly how dangerous the stuff is. But Peters says there’s a “growing body of evidence that we need to consider health consequences and environmental impact” of pet coke in environmental decision making.
“We already know the impact of tar sands oil, because we’re experiencing it on the Detroit River right now,” Peters says. “And it is a potential environmental risk that needs to be assessed, and needs to be studied, and we need to know what we’re dealing with.”
State environmental officials have said that pet coke isn’t dangerous in itself. But they’ve required the company responsible for storing the pet coke to submit plans about how it will handle possible air and water contamination issues.
Peters says the federal government should investigate the health and environmental impacts of pet coke, too.
He introduced an amendment that would have required such a probe as part of the larger, Republican-sponsored Keystone XL bill. The amendment was shot down before the bill was eventually passed. - Michigan Radio, 5/22/13
Peters is not giving up though. This week he plans on introducing legislation that will study the potential health and environmental risks pf pet coke:
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/...
Next week, Peters said he plans to introduce a bill that would require the Environmental Protection Agency to study the effects of the material contained in the pile, including regulations about its storage and transportation. He originally offered such language as an amendment to a bill regarding the Keystone XL pipeline, but said Republicans did not allow him to officially present the amendment.
Brad Wurfel, communications director for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, said the department does not have any authority to stop a company from storing this material where it wants, but it can make sure the pile cannot impact the environment. He said the DEQ has been out to inspect the site several times and has ensured that Detroit Bulk Storage has measures in place regarding runoff. It would be up to local zoning issues to control where such a pile can and cannot be located, he said.
Peters said there was no permit filed with the city of Detroit to locate the pile along the Detroit River, but that it has since been filed.
Wurfel said the EPA does not consider this a toxic substance so long as it is just sitting there.
Other states have decided to regulate the location of the substance, Peters said, including Delaware, which does not allow it to be stored outside.
Peters said those who live and work near the pile are concerned about their health and the impact this may have on their businesses.
"Many of the citizens there are worried," he said.
Several months ago, the DEQ became aware of the pile, Wurfel said, after being alerted to it by several people in Canada.
"Canadians are upset because they are largely downwind of this," Wurfel said.
Since then, the DEQ has requested Detroit Bulk Storage submit a plan to deal with "fugitive dust." Wurfel said the DEQ has asked the company to improve its measures in that regard so that those near the pile are not affected when the wind blows and stirs up pieces of the pile into the air.
"We will continue to keep an eye on the situation," Wurfel said. - Crain's Detroit Business, 5/28/13
I'll bee look forward to seeing what Peters will come up with this week. If you'd like more info on the Peters campaign, you can check out his website here:
http://petersformichigan.com/