Local community and environmental groups are worried about a proposed water pollution control permit for the BP Whiting refinery.

Permit comments filed by the Environmental Law and Policy Center and Environmental Integrity Project say the permit will allow the facility to dump “unhealthy levels of pollutants,” including mercury, into Lake Michigan, according to a news release.

In a statement to the Post-Tribune, a spokesman for BP said a draft of the permit is available for public comment, but it has yet to be issued. The corporation’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit is subject to renewal every five years.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management held an April 22 public hearing as part of the renewal process, according to BP.

“(BP) is committed to safe and compliant operations at the Whiting Refinery and across our global operations,” the company’s statement said. “We will continue working every day to keep this commitment and to ensure the refinery remains an important part of the Northwest Indiana economy for years to come.”

Activists are asking IDEM to revise a draft permit for the plant to include stronger pollution limits for mercury, PFAs and other toxins, including arsenic, benzene and lead, according to the news release.

Mercury is harmful to people of all ages, according to the news release, and it can cause brain damage to infants and poisons fish. PFAs are dangerous in very small “parts per trillion” amounts and don’t easily break down in the environment.

“The permit demonstrates BP’s and the state of Indiana’s disregard for the health of the people of Northwest Indiana and the Chicago area,” Kerri Gefeke, associate attorney at the Environmental Law and Policy Center, said in the news release. “It’s particularly egregious for the state to allow BP to discharge elevated levels of mercury, unknown amounts of ‘forever chemicals’ like PFAs, and numerous other chemicals into Lake Michigan mere feet from the beaches where people swim and fish, and a short distance from where the City of Hammond withdraws its drinking water.”

Meg Parish, senior attorney at the Environmental Integrity Project, agreed with Gefeke, saying the state of Indiana shouldn’t allow the permit.

Various organizations sent a letter to IDEM asking the department to not renew the permit at the Whiting refinery.

Carolyn McCrady, member of Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, said IDEM works for people and asked the agency to do a “real analysis” before allowing the permit.

Lisa Vallee, organizing director for Just Transition Northwest Indiana and a Whiting resident, said she was dumbfounded by the permit renewal application. The new permit contains more lax regulations, neglects to address more than 20 toxic chemicals and concerns about forever chemicals, Vallee said in a statement.

“We are not fools,” Vallee said. “We know because we live here; every day, we smell it, see it and become ill. We will never stop fighting for the clean water, air and land we deserve.”

mwilkins@chicagotribune.com