Refinery Expansion On Lake Superior Coming Into Focus

More evidence that Superior, WI is going to be ground zero in a tremendous political and ecological conflict:

The Superior Daily Telegram has tracked Murphy Oil's land acquisition in advance of a probable and massive expansion of the refinery there - - property acquisitions that undermine the company's public position that 'everything is tentative' when it comes to adding refining capacity there by 200,000 barrels a day.

Why assemble parcels? Just to be in the real estate business?

The Daily Telegram provides a solid, watchdog role when it comes to monitoring government regulators and development up north, making the paper a must-read, bookmarked online site for activists and policy-makers statewide.

For example, the paper's editorial page sharply criticized the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources over what it said were flaws in a DNR study on cargo ships' release of invasive species into the Great Lakes,

Records obtained by this blog from the DNlR and posted late this fall indicate that key players know the expansion has been green-lighted.

Lake Superior is the cleanest of the Great Lakes; the existing refinery sits on nearby wetlands.

In recent years, Murphy has agreed to pay record, Wisconsin fines for violating air pollution permits, and has partnered with government agencies to clean up a creek polluted with petroleum byproducts that flows past the refinery and eventually into Lake Superior..

That was all when the refinery's capacity was at a mere 35,000 barrels a day, or 15% of the expanded refinery's projected output.

So get ready for the battle - especially whether the company can persuade the DNR and federal authorities that the expansion can be accomplished without putting unacceptable amounts of toxins into the environment.