Into the belly of the beast
In my capacity as editor of a business magazine, I often find myself in surroundings that make me rather uncomfortable. Such was the case today when I covered the inauguration of the new clean fuel unit at the BP Cherry Point Refinery.
Don't get me wrong. I am all in favor of clean fuel. BP, in fact, is far more progressive than most refiners. They not only built a facility to meet EPA standards, they exceeded those standards far in advance of the deadline.
I am no fan of the "awl bidness," but BP is at least making a sincere effort to do the right thing. Their local refinery, while no thing of beauty, has set worldwide standards for cleaning up its act. They have reduced emissions by 30 percent over the last five years. The new clean fuel unit has not just reduced sulfur content far below EPA standards for 2007, they have come close to eliminating it entirely. To put it into more understandable terms, the new clean fuels will equal a reduction of 40,000 cars per day in the I-5 corridor here in Washington.
It would, of course, be better if we could actually reduce the traffic by 40,000 cars a day, but that's hardly realistic given our region's reluctance to accept mass transit. That aside, BP celebrated its new clean fuel facility with suitable pomp and circumstance today. They modestly accepted an award from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency for their efforts. That agency has never given an award to a refinery before.
During the year long construction process, BP added to its admirable record of over two million hours without a recordable accident. In a business as hazardous as refining oil, that is rather remarkable. They have scored a few awards from OSHA for that accomplishment.
BP Cherry Point Refinery is also an admirable corporate citizen. There is hardly any nonprofit agency in this area that has not benefitted from their largesse. Every event I go to involving an arts organization or a social service agency, BP's logo is prominently displayed as having contributed rather generously.
Now, those of you who follow this blog know that I am no fan of corporate America. I tend to view multinationals with a very jaundiced eye. Given the Enrons and Halliburtons of this world, I can perhaps be forgiven for being very skeptical of BP's motives. One thing that I have learned from being the editor of the business magazine is that business is not intrinsically evil.
That may not come as a revelation to most of you, but it does to this aging pinko bleeding heart liberal. I used to see business as the enemy, back in my younger days. Thank God for the wisdom to be able to see shades of gray. I now see business, at least small business, as the engine that drives the economy. And I have come to learn that mega corporations are not necessarily incarnations of evil.
But I digress. Thank St. Hunter for that. The BP Cherry Point Refinery is a blight on an otherwise beautiful landscape. So give up your car. If another couple of million people follow your example, we can eliminate these horrors. BP may actually be working toward that end. Their latest marketing scheme casts them as "Beyond Petroleum."
Again, they are progressive enough to realize that the oil is running out and are aggresively pursuing alternative fuels, including solar and hydrogen. They may be a corporate megalith, but they're not stupid.
Finding myself in the heart of an oil refinery was not a spiritual experience. This thing is the definition of ugly. But any true artist will find beauty even in a setting reminiscent of "Modern Times" crossbred with "Brazil."
LoserLand refused to accept a photo of the refinery as a whole, no matter how much I reduced it. That's a shame. My photo was very moody and captured the alien landscape of the place very effectively. Please express your outrage to this user unfriendly blogosphere.
Meantime, I took some photos of the complex plumbing at the refinery and played with them in Photo-Paint. You judge. Is there beauty in a refinery?
10:50:24 PM 
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