BP Aims to Restore Image Two Years Post-Gulf Spill

As tourists start returning to the Gulf of Mexico two years after the disaster that marred its name, BP would like to rebuild its image as an oil company that actually gives a hoot about the environment. Ever since the explosion on its Deepwater Horizon rig in 2010 that led to about 4.9 million barrels of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, BP has been extra cognizant of its environmental image.

Perhaps that mindset helped the company decided on a $400 million settlement with environmental groups and federal authorities to help “significantly reduce noxious air pollution from its massive refinery in northwest Indiana,” according to the Chicago Tribune. As it is, the paper notes, the refinery is letting loose “lung-damaging soot and other air pollution throughout the Chicago area.”

The EPA had signed off on a refinery upgrade in the final month’s of President George W. Bush’s time in the White House, but another look was ordered up by President Obama when he took office. That new look eventually led to this legal squabble. Now the refinery will need to reduce its emissions extensively.

Environmental groups are hoping that the standards set against this refinery will set new precedents for other refineries around the country, the paper notes.