The laws that people live by are designed and put into effect as a means of protecting people from harm. One of the harms that people face that can be considered the most dangerous is when the environment we live in is polluted. Pollution can make it impossible for our earth to sustain human life if nothing is done to protect people from the harmful effects. Since laws are designed to protect people from harm it only makes sense that laws be put into place to protect people from the effects of corporations that cause pollution however. In the past the harm that people faced from pollution that was produced by corporations was very minor. Most of these factories were not large scale operations so they did not run constantly and the pollutants they did put out were not something that would rapidly change things. With technological advances this has changed drastically and the number of pollutants has increased as well putting people at serious risk of exposure to harmful pollutants. These pollutants are in the air that we breathe the water we need for drinking and even in the dirt which we use to grow our food. Factories are something that is considered a necessity to make new things and this brings to light the issue that pollution cannot be avoided. However, it is not necessarily the factories that are the issue; it is the people’s neglect of procedures meant to protect us from pollutants that is causing a problem. One of these things is that people are not properly discarding harmful waste and when these are mishandled it causes serious damage to the environment. When corporations pollute the environment criminal law is the only response to the issue that makes sense (Rinkesh).
Enforcement of Environmental Laws
The EPA or Environmental protection agency is the party responsible for ensuring that people and corporations are held accountable for any actions they commit which might be harmful to the environment. The EPA has the power to enforce laws to protect the environment which means, they can hold corporations accountable by pressing civil and criminal charges if the corporation is found to be harming the environment in a way that could have been prevented if they were following the rules. Once the EPA discovers a violation they take part in ensuring that the pollutant is properly cleaned up. They do this by discovering exactly who is responsible for the pollution, whether it be a person or a corporation. Once the faulty party is identified the EPA will enter into an agreement about who will be cleaning up the pollutants. This could be the party that is found to be responsible or someone that they contract to do the cleanup. The EPA is in charge of everyone including federal properties making sure they are following proper standards to reduce pollution and environmental harm. There are many steps that the EPA takes when enforcing the laws of the environment. Most of these enforcements are done civilly meaning that they will issue fines or warnings to a company and ensure that the pollutant is taken care of properly. However, in some cases the EPA does have the authority to press criminal charges for pollution. Criminal charges being pressed is a very rare occurrence though and is usually only something that happens in worst types of situations. It would take a corporation to know about the pollution and continue to conduct their business purposefully polluting the environment for any criminal charges to be pursued. In these types of cases the criminal charges can result in the corporation being responsible for paying restitution for the damages and the possibility of a prison sentence for the crime. The EPA has a job to enforce the law when people are polluting the environment and criminal law is the proper response for this (Agency).
Flint Michigan
One of the most recent cases involving polluted water that has made news headlines involves so many different corporations. Not only did the water corporation knowingly provide water to citizens through lead pipelines, the river that was used was full of polluted water long before this. It turns out that this river has been a dumping ground for toxic waste for a considerable amount of time. Among the list of pollutants the river has been used for as a waste disposal by corporations is human waste, road salt and other poisonous substances. The people of flint were promised a new water source and this outrageous act was the result. The corporations responsible are no less than an EPA nightmare. The people of flint that consumed the water noticed something was wrong with its taste but were told it was safe to drink. Now everyone in the town has been poisoned. Not only should the corporations that used the river to dump their waste be held responsible, the water corporation that knowingly poisoned so many people should be criminally liable. In most cases criminal charges are not very easy to pursue and the result is an ordered cleanup by the EPA and civil actions. However, in the case involving the flint water crisis the people that are in charge of investigations are feeling very strong that this will be a time that criminal charges are pursued. Currently the focus of investigators is the water company that knowingly exposed so many people to the lead pollutant that was in the pipes which carried the water. The real issue is that so many people were exposed to polluted water from a river that should have been protected by the EPA. The river should have never been used to dispose waste and the corporations that have been doing this for such a long time need to be held criminally liable as well. When the process of cleaning the water for consumption is looked at the corporations that polluted the water in the first place are directly responsible for the poisoning. In this situation the obvious solution is to use the law to punish those responsible (Carmody).
Prosecuting Pollution
The laws that are in place to criminally charge corporations that are responsible for environmental damage were put into place in the 1970’s. Congress made these laws to protect all of the earth’s natural resources. The laws were needed because corporations were using very unsafe practices when exposing of chemicals which directly affected the air, water and dirt in a negative way making it unsafe for people. Still there is an issue with the cost of cleanup and people that are in charge of these corporations continue to ignore the laws to avoid paying cleanup and disposal fees. It is the people that know the laws and the reasons that proper disposal is important that can be held criminally responsible if they choose to ignore the laws. It is important when pursuing criminal charges that the people who are investigating can prove that the pollution was intentional. This means they have to gather enough evidence that will show that the corporation and its individuals knew about the damage that they were causing and the law and chose to break it anyway. If the pollution was not purposefully done it cannot be considered a criminal act so this evidence is crucial for prosecutorial means. Once the case is sufficiently prepared charges can be filed and legal consequences for the criminal actions can be pursued (Justice).
In the case involving the water contamination in Flint Michigan the investigators that are in charge are pursuing serious criminal charges. The charges that are being considered are manslaughter considering the fact that the pollutants will likely cause devastation among the citizens in the following years. The water that was knowingly distributed to the citizens was declared to be toxic and investigators are sure this will result in tragic repercussions for the people that have been consuming it. At least ten people are known to have died because they consumed the contaminated water and the rest of the people have to just wait and see how much damage was done to them from drinking the water. Not only were there poisonous amounts of lead there were also bacteria in the water that can cause a number of other health problems for the citizens of Flint. This case is going to take a lengthy investigation considering there are people that are currently being blamed, multiple corporations and even the EPA who some claim did not do their job soon enough to ensure the environment was kept safe. In any case the people of flint now have to deal with their losses and whatever future damage they face because of so many environmental mistakes which lead to them being poisoned through there water (Miller).
Conclusion
Environmental laws and protections are put in place to ensure that people have a future on this earth where it is safe to consume food, drink water and breathe the air around us. Protecting the environment is a necessity that cannot be ignored. When corporations do ignore the laws which are put into place to reduce pollution they are intentionally putting the people on earth at risk. People who are responsible for ignoring the rules are directly responsible for any damage that is caused to the people living there and they should be criminally pursued. If a person goes out and murders another person they face prison time for what they have done. In the cases involving corporate pollution the corporations are committing mass murder every time they knowingly pollute the environment around them when it can be avoided. Criminal charges are available to these corporations responsible for pollution however; it is a lengthy process to ensure that enough evidence is gathered to pursue the charges. If a company knowingly pollutes the environment to save money resulting in deaths and sickness the evidence that is needed will be found by investigators and they will and should face criminal charges as a result. Often if no harm is done the slap on the wrist is considered acceptable however, when corporations cause pollution the only real solution is to enforce the laws and punish those responsible.
Work Cited
Agency, United. "Enforcement Basic Information | Enforcement | US EPA". Epa.gov. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.
Carmody, Tim. "How The Flint River Got So Toxic". The Verge. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.
Justice, Department. "Prosecution Of Federal Pollution Crimes | ENRD | Department Of Justice". Justice.gov. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.
Miller, Michael. "Manslaughter Charges Possible In Flint Water Crisis, Says Top Investigator". Washington Post. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.
Rinkesh,. "Causes And Effects Of Industrial Pollution - Conserve Energy Future". Conserve-Energy-Future. N.p., 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.
