ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES Essay
INTRODUCTION
Toxic waste can be defined as ‘the byproducts of the industrial process”. As each industry produces some type of by product and some are toxic or poisonous to living things and the environment. The range in the hazardous conditions that they create can be measured as a range with some being very hazardous while others produce a smell or a nuisance. The hazardous wastes are of the most concern and many groups and organizations are watching and enforcing strict codes of conduct for punishment of companies that violate the laws.
The Abidjan disaster is an example of the international obligation of environmentally sound practices by corporations. The toxic waste in this instance was dumped by Probo Koala a Greek owned tanker on loan by a London company. The States were given the domain to enforce cleanup operations in their own territory. Until this time the responsibility for toxic waste cleanup resided in the suggestion by the government to the fraudulent corporation.
Fines
Fines or the payment of damages in the case of a toxic spill was initiated as a deterrent for hazardous dumping in an international setting. The thinking that paying for damages caused to the environment will be sufficient for companies to take precautions against environmental contamination. And many companies has responded in a positive manner and been a responsible user of the environment. Corporations such as Whole Foods is very conscious of the toxic waste problem and uses supply chain techniques that regard for the impact on the natural resources of an area.
However many companies are not as responsive and should be punished more severely than fines. The international jurisdiction should take action to prevent the companies from being in business if they are caught misusing the environment. One such company is Walmart. The case for the illegal dumping happened in California and the store chain was fined $81 million to settle the misdemeanor charges that went back about ten years. Walmart’s environmental strategy includes new green initiatives to counteract some of the environmental problems that it had created and to make an attempt to exhibit their willingness to align its strategy with the environmental needs .
Another case of rather large proportions is the case of AT&T who was fined over $52 million for illegally dumping hazardous waste in California also. The waste that they dumped was electrical parts and so $28 million wen for cleanup of the environment . And the last case to look at for such a high dollar figure is that of Monsanto. They were fined but also made to clean up the area in Britain that they polluted at their own costs. Monsanto had been dumping toxic waste into the water and stream to the point that the water had turned a bright orange. The Agent Orange that they were dumping contained dangerous cancer toxins.
Environmental Crime, Punishment of the companies through the Legal System
The cases mentioned above were simply three out of thousands of cases of companies fined for illegal dumping of toxic waste or pollution. Still many continue the illegal practices by circumventing the laws. Lawsuits can be held up in the court system for years as corporations with the funds for a legal team will not be brought to justice cheaply.
The violations of environmental law are at times subject to criminal prosecution. Most however, are settled through civil means which is normally a fine and a cleanup requirement. . The criminalization of environmental crimes is growing and the criminal justice program is having issues controlling the environment.
The function of the involvement of the legal system is the role of protecting the people and the environment. This is different than the more general crimes that involve a victim and an act directed against them. The environmental crime has a multitude of victims, sometimes including the entire population of an area such as in the Walmart and AT&T pollution in California and the Monsanto in the towns and villages in England. There is not one victim in these cases there are generally thousands.
Justice system protecting the people in these environmental cases finds themselves many time outbid by the team of lawyers and scientists paid by the polluter to break down the government’s case. For example organized crime in the United States has taken over the garbage collection industry. The contaminants that they are polluting the rivers and environment with can make the entire area sick but the government is almost powerless as the protector of the people to prevent such actions from taking place. Everyone knows that it happens and few will take steps against such a powerful organization to prevent this.
Conclusion
Companies that are found guilty of dumping toxic waste and materials should be shut down. It appears from the prior discussions that efforts to prevent further pollution are futile. Companies are spending more money on stopping the enforcement action that if they were to invest in a preventative procedure. Regulations for the most part have been a civil matter and not strong enough to bear witness to the breath of the crime.
For the present the best methodology might be to strengthen the participation of public health officials in identifying and adopting policies on waste management for each particular area and clean them up with the local funding. It is not a fair or just course of action but one that does the best for the whole population. People’s health depends on the cleanup and the stoppage of pollution so the important and first priority is to invoke the path of least resistance and get the area cleaned up for the residents.
This process was done in Love Canal as the cleanup is still in progress years later. The civil suits are ongoing. The area was totally evacuated of all residents and they received federal funds to relocate. However there are many cases of cancers in both infants and adults so the life of many has been altered by the illegal dumping of toxic wastes in their one community. The sad commentary is that this is the fate of all who are residences in areas affect by toxic wastes. In the case of Love Canal the company went out of business and so no one was there to punish.
The problems of pollution are not limited to corporations though as people in the course of everyday life are using more polluting products each day than ever before. The amount of human garbage that goes into landfills cannot be broken down properly as in the past. The intense use of plastics and other pollutants causes the problem to exasperate as the time goes on.
References
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References
Harris, P. (2013). Walmart Fined $10 million. the guardian, [online] http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/may/28/walmart-pleads-guilty-hazardous-waste. Accessed March 2016.
Sarich, C. (2014). Monsanto Reportedly Dumping Poisons at UK Town. Natural Society, pp. [online] http://naturalsociety.com/vile-smelling-toxic-monsanto-waste-poisons-uk-town/.Accessed March 2016.
Situ, Y. (2000 ). Environmental Crime. London: [online] https://books.google.com/books?id=P8zGCgAAQBAJ&printsec=copyright&source=gbs_pub_info_r#v=onepage&q&f=false. Accessed March 2016.
Valentine, K. (2014, November). Telecom Company to Pay $52 million for Illgal Dumping. Think Progress, pp. [online] http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/11/21/3595508/att-electronic-waste-settlement/. Accessed March 2016.
