Environmental laws and regulations are framed to protect the air, land and water environment as well as human health from adverse impacts of industrial or commercial activities. All capital ventures are aimed towards increased production and associated profits, while the surrounding environment is taken for granted. Results of such environmental devaluations are great disasters that lead to severe capital and human loss. Four different disasters that resulted from violation of major environmental laws or led to the development of new regulations are discussed below in detail.
Love Canal
Hooker Chemical Company acquired an aborted canal project area near Niagara Falls called Love canal, and used it as a dump site for its various chemical wastes generated between 1942 and 1953 (State University of New York [SUNY]). 21,000 tones of hazardous chemical wastes were dumped into the abandoned canal including cancer-causing agents such as halogenated organics, dioxins, chloro-benzenes, etc. (SUNY). The dumpsite was later simply sealed with a clay layer, without any proper clean up and sold to Niagara Falls School Board. Love canal then became a residential colony with 800 single-family dwelling units, mainly occupied by economically weak working classes (SUNY). During early 1970’s several unexplainable diseases and birth defects were reported in Love canal neighborhood. Due to heavy rains during the time period, the water table has risen, and the toxic chemicals sealed underground started leaching through sewers and swales. Backyards of homes, school playgrounds and most open areas were contaminated with hazardous toxins. In 1978, an emergency relocation of 239 families was carried out due to severe contamination. In 1981, remaining 700 families also had to be shifted at an expense of USD 17 million (SUNY).
Love canal is a typical example of a mismanaged toxic waste disposal site, and it lead to the passing of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) in 1980 (SUNY). Love canal also triggered environmental justice movement against the unequal burden of environmental pollution falling on the socio-economically weaker sections. While, rich project proponents reap the profits from a project, poor working class section of the society face the adverse impacts of pollution. Love canal lead to more emphasis on the polluter pays ethical principle, and there was huge outcry for polluter to take up the responsibility of cleaning up the site too. Love canal disaster thus led to the Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act (SERA), which mandated cleanup of hazardous waste spills and dumpsites by the polluter, and information to the local community on the various hazardous wastes being managed at the site (Carnegie Mellon University).
Those contaminated sites found to be posing severe risks to the environment shall be enrolled in the National Priorities List (NPL), and they are eligible to use the superfund derived from taxes paid towards chemical and petroleum industries, for cleanup. The fund can be used for contaminated site remedial investigation as well as cleanup feasibility studies (Carnegie Mellon University). Later in 1990, the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) was passed, and it focused on prevention of pollution at source rather than its cleanup later. This act emphasizes on a voluntary pollution prevention program that incorporates a waste management hierarchy starting with waste reduction, reuse, recycle, treatment and final disposal (Carnegie Mellon University). Thus Love canal disaster forced government and regulatory agencies to take several environmentally responsible actions.
Bhopal Incident in India
While environmental pollution is controlled within a nation’s boundaries by strict laws, the regulations do not apply to a corporate’s polluting activities carried out in a foreign country. Bhopal gas tragedy in India is an apt example of failure of a transnational corporation to fulfill its legal duty to safeguard the environment of a country in which they operate a facility. Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) USA had a pesticide manufacturing facility in India, which produced and stored a toxic chemical ingredient called methyl iso-cyanate (MIC). On December 3rd 1984, 40 tones of MIC was inadvertently released from UCC India plant, killing 2000 people and injuring about 200,000 innocent people in the neighborhood, who were unaware of any happenings in the plant (Tyagi and Rosencranz, 1105).
The pesticide manufactured at the plant had not been sold for a long time, and there was no proper maintenance activity in the plant. UCC USA, also insisted on cost cutting, worker lay-offs, and even considered shutting down of UCC plant in India. Though the Indian MIC plant was similar in design to UCC’s another plant in West Virginia, it lacked the computerized safety systems installed in Virginia (Tyagi and Rosencranz, 1108). The exact cause for the gas leak is not known till date, and sabotage is speculated to be reason. However, UCC is morally responsible for this tragic incident because it has failed to safeguard the environment, protect human lives, adopt safety measures as well as inform the local government or people about hazards of MIC (Tyagi and Rosencranz, 1109). UCC agreed to pay a compensation of $ 470 million (The Bhopal Medical Appeal), which is only a meager amount considering the huge number of victims affected. Further, the victims were not consulted in the settlement issue and the case still is not resolved.
In 2001, UCC merged with Dow Chemicals, and Dow Chemicals failed to take up any moral responsibility for an incident that happened long before the merger (The Bhopal Medical Appeal). Thus, victims of Bhopal gas tragedy have not been served justice even after 30 years (The Bhopal Medical Appeal). Bhopal Incident made the global community realize the need for enforceable international standards for hazardous activities in developing countries. Though within US, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) 1976, controls hazardous chemical pollution within the country, there are no similar laws that can govern a corporate’s activities in a foreign country.
Tar Creek in Picher – Oklahoma
Tar creek in Oklahoma stands as an evidence for the highly polluting nature of intensive mining. The creek is completely dead with no fishes, and its banks are orange in color due to acid mine drainage (Kent and Jim). The region around the creek was rich in mineral deposits, and once supported a huge population of “Quapaw” Native Americans. Excessive mineral extraction, and abandoning of the mines without appropriate safe guards has lead to severe land as well as water contamination. Emissions from the left over chat piles, consisting of heavy metals such as lead, zinc and cadmium are poisoning the air too. In 1996, 30% of children around Tar creek had severe lead poisoning, which affected their immune system, nervous system, kidneys, etc. (Kent and Jim). The site has been in the NPL for 20 years, and remedial actions are taking place only at a very slow pace (Kent and Jim).
In 1870, the Bureau of Indian Affairs sold land originally belonging to Quapaw tribes to private mining companies (Kent and Jim). Between 1891 and 1970, lead and zinc mining was carried out intensely using room and pillar method (Kent and Jim). Later the mine was abandoned without proper decontamination measures. Water filled the abandoned mined rooms, and dissolved he sulphide minerals, which reacted to form acid (Kent and Jim). Thus acid collected underground and seeped through all possible routes i.e. shafts, springs, boreholes, and aquifers, contaminating the land, ground water as well as surface water resources. In 1983, the site was listed in NPL, and the regions around Tar creek comprising Picher, Cardin, Quapaw, Commerce and North Miami, belonging to Ottawa County were declared as Superfund sites (Kent and Jim). The mining companies had made severe violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA) of 1970 and Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1977, that control air emissions and discharges into water bodies, as well as CERCLA for not cleaning up the site of hazardous substances. But, the people of Picher, Cardin and surroundings, who were mostly below poverty line had to sue the company, to get compensation, arrange for health monitoring as well as cleanup of the contaminated region (Kent and Jim). Further, mine tailings are classified as special type of wastes and exempted from the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) that deal with handling, treatment and disposal of hazardous solid wastes. EPA is still trying hard to remediate Tar creek by sealing drainage inputs, but with little improvement in the status of the environment.
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident is the only commercial nuclear plant disaster that resulted in radiation fatalities (Nuclear Energy Institute [NEI]). The cause for the disaster is flaw in reactor design combined with human error. About 28 staff exposed to the radiation died 4 months after the accident. Additionally, 7000 cases of thyroid cancer were reported at that time, and there was an increase in reported leukemia and cataract cases among workers engaged in the site recovery operations (NEI). On April 26, 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant operators ran one of the power generating units at a very low power. This made the unit unstable due to sudden buildup of heat, and the steam explosion led to a fire that raged for 10 days (NEI). Chernobyl nuclear power plant had 4 pressurized water reactors with graphite moderator and water coolant. It was an indigenous design meant for plutonium production combined with power generation. Main design flaw in the Chernobyl plant was absence of massive containment feature for the reactor core (NEI).
During the explosion, 13-30% of the 190 metric tones uranium dioxide fuel stored in the reactor, escaped into the environment (NEI). Evacuation started 36 hours after the accident, and about 115,000 people in the neighborhood were exposed to radiation by then (NEI). Milk and animal fodder was also contaminated, and people were thus exposed to radioactive iodine even days after the release (NEI). There were no regulations that governed nuclear power plant operations at that time, and the Soviet Union’s poor emergency preparedness led to extreme radiation impacts. However, in 1986 the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) was enacted in US. EPCRA deals with proper handling of emergency situations, and appropriate information to the community (Carnegie Mellon University). Though a Chernobyl type disaster of a commercial reactor during operation has not occurred so far. Nuclear wastes, mainly residual fuel material poses a serious radiation exposure risk, and need to be contained appropriately. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 covers most aspects of nuclear waste management, and facility operators need to comply with strict regulations to continue operation.
Conclusion
Further, the victims of environmental disasters are usually the weaker economic sections of the society, and working classes. They do not have the economy and choice to live in a better environment. Hence, there is no equality in facing adverse impacts of environmental pollution. Government and regulatory authorities have offered compensations in all 4 cases discussed above, but very less action has been taken to protect the interests of the vulnerable population, and prevent pollution in the first place. Thus a preventive approach towards environmental management has to be implemented to prevent disasters is future, as well as for sustainable development.
Works Cited
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NEI. "Fact Sheets." Chernobyl Accident And Its Consequences. 2016. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
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SUNY. "Love Canal - A Brief History | SUNY Geneseo." 2016. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
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