WHITING — Workers opening a crate of valves at the BP Whiting Refinery in northwest Indiana were surprised to find two dead monkeys inside.
BP spokesman Scott Dean says the company believes the small primates somehow became trapped in a large shipping container from India. The animals were discovered by contract workers Wednesday at the refinery in Whiting, about 15 miles southeast of Chicago.
Dean says BP reported the findings to the state's Division of Fish and Wildlife, the federal Centers for Disease Control and customs. He says BP is following CDC guidance in disposing of the animals.
Dean says there was never any threat to workers or the community. He says the crate arrived in Louisiana in June 2011 and remained there nearly a year before being shipped to Whiting.
