From: DeSmog Canada
After using Detroit
as a toxic waste dumping ground, the billionaire industrialist Koch
brothers are now piling their petroleum coke from tar sands oil
refineries in Chicago.
Kiley Kroh of ThinkProgress writes that petroleum coke, or petcoke, “is building up along Chicago's Calumet River and alarming residents.” The Chicago petcoke piles are owned by KCBX, an affiliate of Koch Carbon, which is a subsidiary of Koch Industries.
Petcoke is a high-carbon, high-sulfur byproduct of coking, a refining process that extracts oil from tar sands bitumen crude. The petcoke owned by Charles and David Koch is a byproduct of bitumen crude shipped to US refineries from the Alberta tar sands.
Midwest Energy News reports that “a mile and a half of the Calumet River shoreline holds big black piles,” some of which rise “about five stories high.” Locals say that the piles have grown recently, even as the BP Whiting refinery across the border in Indiana nears completion of a $3.8 billion upgrade to process more tar sands crude.
Detroit Mayor David Bing ordered the removal of the petcoke piles from his city in August, after protests by residents and local politicians concerned about the health and environmental impacts. Residents complained of “respiratory problems as the thick, black dust was blowing off the piles and into their apartments,” reports ThinkProgress. The Detroit petcoke is being moved to Ohio. MORE
Kiley Kroh of ThinkProgress writes that petroleum coke, or petcoke, “is building up along Chicago's Calumet River and alarming residents.” The Chicago petcoke piles are owned by KCBX, an affiliate of Koch Carbon, which is a subsidiary of Koch Industries.
Petcoke is a high-carbon, high-sulfur byproduct of coking, a refining process that extracts oil from tar sands bitumen crude. The petcoke owned by Charles and David Koch is a byproduct of bitumen crude shipped to US refineries from the Alberta tar sands.
Midwest Energy News reports that “a mile and a half of the Calumet River shoreline holds big black piles,” some of which rise “about five stories high.” Locals say that the piles have grown recently, even as the BP Whiting refinery across the border in Indiana nears completion of a $3.8 billion upgrade to process more tar sands crude.
Detroit Mayor David Bing ordered the removal of the petcoke piles from his city in August, after protests by residents and local politicians concerned about the health and environmental impacts. Residents complained of “respiratory problems as the thick, black dust was blowing off the piles and into their apartments,” reports ThinkProgress. The Detroit petcoke is being moved to Ohio. MORE
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