WHITING, Ind. (AP) _ Indiana regulators have issued a permit application that will reduce the amount of mercury BP PLC releases into Lake Michigan by more than half, but is still more than six times what the federal Clean Water Act allows.
 
Indiana Department of Environmental Management spokesman Dan Goldblatt tells The Times of Munster that the permit that goes into effect Nov. 1 allows BP's Whiting Refinery to release no more than 8.75 parts per trillion of mercury. BP had received permission from IDEM in late 2011 to discharge an annual average of 23.1 parts per trillion.
 
BP spokesman Scott Dean says the company is “cautiously optimistic'' its recent investment in water treatment equipment will reduce the discharge.
 
Natural Resources Defense Council senior attorney Ann Alexander called the permit a “mixed bag'' environmentally.