When the Worst Happens: Environmental Injustice in Democratic Countries

[McCamy Taylor]

We all know the facts of life and death under corporate fascism. Businessmen care about one thing---making money. Safety costs money. So, whenever possible, private companies will try to skimp on safety in order to improve their bottom line. Most industrialized countries recognize the problem and have regulatory agencies. However, since elected politicians are put into office by corporations, the regulatory agencies often answer to the industries they are supposed to police and not the public. They ignore safety violations. They impose wrist slap fines for near disasters. And when the worst happens, everyone scrambles to evade blame.



The “worst” has happened many times in the last two hundred years. In 1889, the worst happened in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. A poorly maintained dam on a lake owned by a bunch of rich businessmen including Henry Clay Frick (chairman of Carnagie Steel) burst.

The dam was 72 feet (22 m) high and 931 feet (284 m) long. Between 1881 when the club was opened, and 1889, the dam frequently sprang leaks and was patched, mostly with mud and straw. Additionally, a previous owner removed and sold for scrap the 3 cast iron discharge pipes that previously allowed a controlled release of water. There had been some speculation as to the dam's integrity, and concerns had been raised by the head of the Cambria Iron Works downstream in Johnstown. Carnegie Steel's chief competitor, the Cambria Iron and Steel Company, at that time boasted the world's largest annual steel production. However, no major corrective action was taken, and the flawed dam held the waters of Lake Conemaugh back until the disaster of May 31, 1889.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown_Flood

The water poured downhill, killing 2200 people and wiping out the town.
Though the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club were some of the wealthiest people in the nation, they were never held liable in court. Many reputations were injured, but their pocketbooks were not touched.

Suits were filed against the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, but in keeping with the times, the courts viewed the dam break as an act of God, and no legal compensation was made to the survivors.

The city would continue to suffer nuisance floods, with water in the streets and in people's basements especially in the spring of the year. It would be another 47 years, and not until more property was destroyed and more lives lost, until some constructive efforts were made to control the waters that flowed through Johnstown.

http://www.jaha.org/FloodMuseum/history.html

In 1937, the “worst” happened at New London School, in Texas. The school had decided to cancel its gas contract and tap into the Parade Gasoline Company’s residue gas line.

This practice, while not explicitly authorized by local oil companies, was widespread in the area. The natural gas extracted with the oil was seen as a waste product and was flared off. As there was no value to the natural gas, the oil companies turned a blind eye. This "raw" or "wet" gas varied in quality from day to day, even from hour to hour.<3>
Untreated natural gas is both odorless and colorless, so leaks are undetectable. Gas had been leaking from the residue line tap, and built up inside an enclosed crawlspace that ran the entire 253-foot length of the building's facade. Students had been complaining of headaches for some time, but little attention had been paid to it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_London_School_explosion

A spark ignited the pocket on natural gas which had accumulated under the school. Hundreds of children and teachers were blown to bits. However, the school and the gas company were able to avoid paying civil damages. One good thing that came of the accident---mercaptans were added to gas after that, to give odorless natural gas a bad smell so that leaks could be detected more easily.

Here is a list of the students who died that day:

http://www.newlondonschool.org/ListOfNames.htm

In 1947, the “worst” happened in Texas City. A ship full of ammonium nitrate caught fire and exploded. The entire fire department of the town was killed.

The tremendous blast sent a 15-foot (4.5 m) wave that was detectable over nearly 100 miles (160 km) of the Texas shoreline. The blast leveled nearly 1,000 buildings on land. The Grandcamp explosion destroyed the Monsanto Chemical Company plant and resulted in ignition of refineries and chemical tanks on the waterfront. Falling bales of burning twine added to the damage while the Grandcamp's anchor was hurled across the city. Sightseeing airplanes flying nearby had their wings shorn off <4>, forcing them out of the sky. Ten miles away, people in Galveston were forced to their knees; windows were shattered in Houston, Texas, 40 miles (60 km) away. People felt the shock 250 miles (400 km) away in Louisiana. The explosion blew almost 6,350 tons of the ship's steel into the air, some at supersonic speed. Official casualty estimates came to a total of 567, but many victims were burned to ashes or literally blown to bits, and the official total is believed to be an underestimate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_Disaster

In this case, the federal government was blamed.

Hundred of lawsuits were filed as a result of the disaster. Many of them were combined into Elizabeth Dalehite, et al. v. United States, under the recently enacted Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). On April 13, 1950, the district court found the United States responsible for a litany of negligent acts of omission and commission by 168 named agencies and their representatives in the manufacture, packaging, and labeling of ammonium nitrate, further compounded by errors in transport, storage, loading, fire prevention, and fire suppression, all of which led to the explosions and the subsequent carnage. On June 10, 1952, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned this decision, finding that the United States maintained the right to exercise its own "discretion" in vital national matters. The Supreme Court affirmed that decision (346 U.S. 15, June 8, 1953), in a 4-to-3 opinion, noting that the district court had no jurisdiction under the federal statute to find the U.S. government liable for "negligent planning decisions" which were properly delegated to various departments and agencies. In short, the FTCA clearly exempts "failure to exercise or perform a discretionary function or duty", and the Court found that all of the alleged acts in this case were discretionary in nature.

This would not be the last time the Supreme Court stepped in to quash a civil suit in an environmental disaster.
Photos of the disaster here:

http://www.local1259iaff.org/disaster.html



Sometimes the “worst” happens in other democratic countries. In 1956 in Minamata City, Japan, the citizens were suffering from a strange disease that wracked their nervous system before killing them. Turns out that the Chisso Corporation has been dumping mercury into the sea for decades. And it had known about the health problems associated with mercury for decades. During the investigation by the Japanese government, the company started dumping its toxic waste into a local river instead, in order to escape detection. This caused the problem to spread to fishing villages up and down the coast.

For over a decade, the people of Minamata City fought for justice. Though the Japanese government had figured it all out by 1959, they did not publically admit that the disease was caused by mercury poising until 1968. Even then, officials tried to protect Chisso Corporation, arranging for ridiculously low financial compensation for those affected. A civil suit in 1973 finally raised the amount of compensation to 66,000 USD per person.

Here is a photo of a victim taken by Shisei Kuwabara



The citizens of India do not have it much better when it comes to environmental justice. In 1984, Union Carbide had decided to increase its revenues at its Bophal, India pesticide plant by cutting safety. Most of us remember the results. Toxic gas was released from the plant, killing several thousands immediately and many more thousands over time. The Bophal disaster was made worse by the fact that a huge number of extremely poor people lived close to the plant (a topic worthy of its own OP).

In 2010, the first criminal convictions in the case were obtained. Seven Indian nationals were sent to jail for two years. The CEO of Union Carbide, Warren Anderson, is under indictment in India for his part of the tragedy. However, the Indian government hustled him out of the country after the disaster and U.S. has been sheltering him since then. Union Carbide dumped its interest in the Bophal plant and then was sold to Dow in an attempt to escape liability. How much is the life of an Indian worth? $2,200 dollars according the Union Carbide.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster

The most notorious U.S. oil spill---up until Deepwater Horizon—was the Exxon Valdez. Since we all know about that one, I will limit my remarks to Exxon’s successful attempts to evade responsibility. A civil suit jury tried to impose punitive damages. Exxon appealed and appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. One of the justices owned so much Exxon stock that he had to recuse himself, but his buddies on the court made sure to protect his---and Exxon’s—financial best interests. The company’s final liability is the amount paid out by its insurer plus interest. With an industry friendly court system like this, it is no wonder that BP decided that safety was optional in the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon_Valdez_oil_spill

But wait! It gets worse. If you can steal an election and put your own guy in the White House, you can then get away with murder. In 2000, Masey Energy in Martin Co., Kentucky had a coal sludge disaster.

The spill was over five feet deep in places and covered nearby residents' yards. The spill polluted hundreds of miles (300 - 500 km) of the Big Sandy River and its tributaries and the Ohio River. The water supply for over 27,000 residents was contaminated, and all aquatic life in Coldwater Fork and Wolf Creek was killed.
Snip
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, wife of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), oversaw the Mine Safety and Health Administration at the time. Chao place a McConnell staffer in charge of the MSHA investigation into the spill. In 2002, a $5,600 fine was levied. That September Massey gave $100,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, chaired by McConnell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_County_sludge_spill

I guess we can blame Mitch McConnell for the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal sludge disaster in 2008. Paying a $5,600 fine is a lot cheaper than good engineering.

1.1 billion gallons (4.2 million m³) of coal fly ash slurry was released. The coal-fired power plant, located across the Clinch River from the city of Kingston, uses ponds to dewater the fly ash, a byproduct of coal combustion, which is then stored in wet form in dredge cells. The slurry (a mixture of fly ash and water) traveled across the Emory River and its Swan Pond embayment, on to the opposite shore, covering up to 300 acres (1.2 km2) of the surrounding land, damaging homes and flowing up and down stream in nearby waterways such as the Emory River and Clinch River (tributaries of the Tennessee River). It was the largest fly ash release in United States history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_fly_ash_slurry_spill



I have chosen to write about disasters in democratic countries for a reason. If you live in a totalitarian state, you expect your government to do exactly what it wants, ignoring the plight of the people. In a democracy, where people are supposed to elect the government that will best protect them, they should be able to pass meaningful safety regulation. And they have a right to expect their elected officials to enforce that legislation.

That is how it ought to be. However, under the perversion of democracy that is corporate fascism, we effectively live in the Soviet Union (where Chernobyl happened)---without any of the social benefits (like guaranteed health care and jobs). Which means that BP’s Deepwater Horizon will happen again and again, since companies know that the federal government and the courts will limit their liability after the fact. And if the worst happens, all you have to do is steal another presidential election.

Election reform. It's not just a good idea. It could save your life.

[Ignis]

1. Sinking like a stone? Not if I can help it.

:kick:

[Dogmudgeon]

2. Excellent post!

Keep in mind the Donora and London smog disasters (1948 and 1952), and the 1975 Banqiao/Three Gorges flood and dam break in China, for the revised edition.

There's also a huge ongoing oil spill in despotic Nigeria.

Global warming -- even with a mini-ice-age -- could easily top all those disasters.

--d!

[Overseas]

3. K&R! //nt

[Altoid_Cyclist]

4. Thank you for the very worthy post.

In this area (not far from Johnstown BTW)I always think of all of the miners killed or incapacitated by black lung.

This also comes to mind:

Excerpt of 20 page PDF document.

(2) Since the inception of the nuclear weapons program and for several decades afterwards, a large number of nuclear weapons workers at sites of the Department of Energy and at sites of vendors who supplied the Cold War effort were put at risk without their knowledge and consent for reasons that, documents reveal, were driven by fears of adverse
publicity, liability, and employee demands for hazardous duty pay.
(3) Many previously secret records have documented unmonitored exposures to radiation and beryllium and continuing problems at these sites across the Nation, at which the Department of Energy and its predecessor agencies have been, since World War II, self-regulating with respect to nuclear safety and occupational safety and health. No other hazardous Federal activity has been permitted to be carried out under such sweeping powers of self-regulation.
(4) The policy of the Department of Energy has been to litigate occupational illness claims, which has deterred workers from filing workers’ compensation claims and has imposed major financial burdens for such employees who have sought compensation. Contractors of the Department have been held harmless and the employees have been denied
workers’ compensation coverage for occupational disease.
(5) Over the past 20 years, more than two dozen scientific findings have emerged that indicate that certain of such employees are experiencing increased risks of dying from cancer and non-malignant diseases. Several of these studies have also established a correlation between excess diseases and exposure to radiation and beryllium.
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas/pdfs/theact/title36.pdf

And in Australia there was the Blue Sky Mine in Wittenoon:
http://www.asbestosdiseases.org.au/asbestosinfo/wittenoom_tragedies.htm

Long live greed and corporate profits. Oh....., the workers and the environment, never mind.

[LarryNM]

5. Thank You Very Much for this Most Important Post - I Wonder

if the new Texas SBOE guidelines will allow Texas City and New London to be taught.

[PufPuf23]

6. Thanks for the summation and good thoughts nt

[sabrina 1]

7. Excellent post, thank you. Wish I had seen it

before it was too late to rec. it. Consider this a rec anyhow.

I wonder if this disaster like all the others, will eventually be forgotten. Or will it finally make it obvious that something has to be done about oversight of these planet-destroying enemies of the people of the world?

Listening to Republicans assuring us that we can trust BP et al I don't have much hope ...

Anyhow, thanks for the work you put into gathering all this information. Very informative OP.

[Overseas]

8. It galls me too that paying the fines is cheaper than safer engineering.

In many cases, corporate purchasing power in a pro-"free market" (pro-wealthiest) buys softie legislation for them. Little fines they can pile up instead of investing triple those amounts into more safety technology.

And meanwhile, Big Oil gets major tax breaks to subsidize their R&D, even though they spend it all on drilling more deeply and not more safely.