110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 187 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Whereas the Great Lakes are the largest surface freshwater 
system on the planet; 
Whereas the Great Lakes account for 95 percent of the 
United States’ surface fresh water and about 21 percent 
of the world’s supply; 
Whereas the Great Lakes provide drinking water for more 
than 30 million Americans;
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Whereas, on May 18, 2004, President George W. Bush said 
‘‘the Great Lakes are a national treasure’’; 
Whereas Congress has expressed its commitment to pro-
tecting the Great Lakes from pollutants and contami-
nants through the Clean Water Act and subsequent legis-
lation; 
Whereas the United States Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) and Environment Canada joined together in pro-
mulgating the Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy to 
eliminate the presence of persistent toxic substances in 
the Great Lakes basin; 
Whereas the ‘‘mixing zones’’ that dilute toxic chemicals dis-
charged into the Great Lakes system have been con-
troversial as a possible threat to humans, fish and wild-
life; 
Whereas the Great Lakes are plagued by pollutants such as 
mercury, 
PCBs, 
ammonia, 
DDT, 
alkylated 
lead, 
hexachlorobenzene, TCDD, toxaphene, and others; 
Whereas high amounts of ammonia can cause algae blooms 
that threaten fish and water quality; 
Whereas the Indiana Department of Environmental Manage-
ment recently issued a permit to BP PLC to allow their 
facility in Whiting, IN, to release 54 percent more ammo-
nia and 35 percent more total suspended solids into Lake 
Michigan each day; 
Whereas the BP Whiting facility will now be allowed to dump 
an average of 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 
pounds of total suspended solids daily into Lake Michi-
gan; 
Whereas the Great Lakes already face myriad challenges 
from chemicals and pollutants, including a steep increase
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in fish consumption warnings and record numbers of 
beach closures; and 
Whereas Congress has a clear role in protecting the Great 
Lakes as an entity that spans across State and inter-
national boundaries: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) Congress expresses its disapproval of the 
Indiana Department of Environmental Manage-
ment’s issuance of a permit allowing BP to increase 
their daily dumping of ammonia and total suspended 
solids into Lake Michigan; 
(2) Congress urges the State of Indiana to re-
consider issuance of a permit allowing BP to in-
crease their daily dumping of ammonia and total 
suspended solids into Lake Michigan; 
(3) Congress should take action to protect and 
restore the Great Lakes; 
(4) the United States Environmental Protection 
Agency’s actions in the Great Lakes basin should be 
consistent with the goal of preserving and restoring 
the Great Lakes; and
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(5) the United States Environmental Protection 
Agency should not allow increased dumping of 
chemicals and pollutants into the Great Lakes. 
Passed the House of Representatives July 25, 2007. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 187 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the 
dumping of industrial waste into the Great Lakes.