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Empresas y finanzas

EPA says BP's Whiting refinery did not have permit


    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Environmental Protection Agency said oil giant BP Plc may have tried to modify its refinery in Whiting, Indiana to process Canadian crude oil three years before having the correct permit.

    As a result, the EPA said it issued the company an amended notice for violating the federal Clean Air Act at the 410,000 barrel-per-day refinery, which was initially issued to BP in November 2007 for failing to get a permit when the company modified one of its cracking units at the Whiting facility.

    "EPA now has information suggesting that BP may have begun a project to process Canadian crude oil at the refinery in 2005 without the proper permit," the agency's Chicago regional office said in a statement issued on Thursday.

    The EPA said BP did no receive its construction permit for the $3.8 billion expansion project from Indiana environmental regulators until May 1 of this year.

    The EPA said these are preliminary findings of violations and BP has 30 days to request a meeting with agency officials to discuss resolving the allegations.

    A BP spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

    (Reporting by Tom Doggett; Editing by David Gregorio)