The Indiana town suffering under the shadow of a BP refinery: They've had way too many accidents'

"A severe thunderstorm moved through north-west Indiana on 19 August, dropping 6in of rain on Whiting, a largely industrial town, flooding streets and temporarily closing schools. The flooding also shut down the BP Whiting Refinery, the largest fuel refinery in the midwest, with a capacity to process around 400,000 barrels of crude oil a day. Residents living around the facility quickly reported oil and gas fumes in their flooded basements,"

"The local conditions, BP admitted, were severe with wailing sirens at the facility adding to the climate of fear for residents. They had a real problem; they had to shut down. Who knows what happened, says Carolyn Marsh, the administrator of the BP & Whiting Watch Facebook page, who lives within walking distance of the refinery. The sludge they had to clean out of their system had to go through the water filtration plant"

Severe thunderstorms dropped about six inches of rain on Whiting, Indiana, flooding streets, temporarily closing schools, and forcing shutdown of the BP Whiting Refinery, which can process about 400,000 barrels of crude per day. Residents reported oil and gas fumes in flooded basements and symptoms including dizziness and nausea. Wailing sirens and admitted severe local conditions heightened public fear. Sludge from the facility passed through the town's water filtration plant, raising concerns about contamination of Lake Michigan. Regulatory rollbacks on emissions increase risks for communities near petroleum facilities as more frequent, intense storms threaten infrastructure.

Read at www.theguardian.com