A recent report placing Lake and Porter counties in the top 20 in the country for release of dioxins into the air and water shouldn't be looked at as all bad, a Hammond city official said Friday.

Ronald Novak, director of Hammond's Department of Environmental Management, said there is a gleam of good news mixed in with the bad when it comes to discerning information released Thursday by the Indiana Public Interest Research Group.

"The numbers are going down. ... But the bad news is there are these compounds in the air, and they should be reduced - especially in highly industrialized areas," he said.

The study by the Indiana Public Interest Research Group used federal toxic release data from 2004 to analyze pollution that is believed to be linked to serious health problems, including cancer, birth defects and neurological damage.

Lake and Porter counties were notched at 16th and 14th nationwide respectively for counties with the highest total air and water releases of dioxins, the report released Thursday states.

BP's Whiting Refinery spokesman Tom Keilman on Thursday declined comment pending further review as did Mittal spokesman David Allen on Friday. U.S. Steel spokesman John Armstrong couldn't be reached for comment.

BP's Whiting Refinery plant was among the top pollution releasers in all six toxic pollutant categories, the study reported.

Steel plants ISG Indiana Harbor Inc. and ISPAT Inland Inc. in East Chicago, ISG Burns Harbor LLC and USS Gary Works also were on the lists of Indiana's polluting facilities, the study reported. The ISG and ISPAT properties have since come under ownership of Arcelor Mittal.