Paula Ballentine, 11/02/2010
This is a concrete mixing truck from Torromeo. All of the water on the ground will run right into a nearby stream; it will not be cleaned.
This is a concrete mixing truck from Torromeo. All of the water on the ground will run right into a nearby stream; it will not be cleaned.
SUMMARY:
A complaint has been filed against a company in New Hampshire that focuses on ready-mix concrete for violating the Clean Water Act. They apparently discharged stormwater and used water into waterways as well as wetlands, polluting these bodies of water. While doing this, they did not have the necessary National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit. The company did not use the best technologies to clean the water that they discharged, or much of anything for that matter. Run-off from ready-mix concrete companies is known to flow directly into waterways, picking up sediment, used oil, pesticides, solvents and other debris along the way. As we all know, pesticides in water bodies can cause algal blooms. The Attorney's office of the area has filed the complaint on behalf of the EPA, asking for up to $37,500 per day, per violation. The violations that the company has been accused of are as follows: discharging process water without authorization from the mid 1970's to present, and discharging stormwater associated with industrial activity without authorization from the mid 1990's to December 19, 2009. That is ALOT of money that they could be losing!
A complaint has been filed against a company in New Hampshire that focuses on ready-mix concrete for violating the Clean Water Act. They apparently discharged stormwater and used water into waterways as well as wetlands, polluting these bodies of water. While doing this, they did not have the necessary National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit. The company did not use the best technologies to clean the water that they discharged, or much of anything for that matter. Run-off from ready-mix concrete companies is known to flow directly into waterways, picking up sediment, used oil, pesticides, solvents and other debris along the way. As we all know, pesticides in water bodies can cause algal blooms. The Attorney's office of the area has filed the complaint on behalf of the EPA, asking for up to $37,500 per day, per violation. The violations that the company has been accused of are as follows: discharging process water without authorization from the mid 1970's to present, and discharging stormwater associated with industrial activity without authorization from the mid 1990's to December 19, 2009. That is ALOT of money that they could be losing!
REFLECTION:
It is truly horrible that this company (by the way, the company's name is Torromeo Industries, Inc.) has let so much polluted water go into our waterways for so long. However, it is just a fact of life. So many companys care more about getting the biggest profit and don't think about how badly their actions affect the environment. It is a good thing we have so many environmental laws to punish these companies! However, I do feel bad for the current workers at the company, for they might not have agreed with what Torromeo was doing, but they needed a job so were afraid to speak up. Or if they simply didn't know everything that Torromeo was doing, they will still be punished and will most likely lose their job because the company simply can't afford to pay them anymore. Most likely, Torromeo will go out of business.
It is truly horrible that this company (by the way, the company's name is Torromeo Industries, Inc.) has let so much polluted water go into our waterways for so long. However, it is just a fact of life. So many companys care more about getting the biggest profit and don't think about how badly their actions affect the environment. It is a good thing we have so many environmental laws to punish these companies! However, I do feel bad for the current workers at the company, for they might not have agreed with what Torromeo was doing, but they needed a job so were afraid to speak up. Or if they simply didn't know everything that Torromeo was doing, they will still be punished and will most likely lose their job because the company simply can't afford to pay them anymore. Most likely, Torromeo will go out of business.
QUESTIONS:
1) Is it fair to punish the companies and minor workers so severly?
1) Is it fair to punish the companies and minor workers so severly?
2) What other affects of this pollution besides algal blooms could have been caused?
3) What do you think all of this money will be used for?
4) If a permit wasn't necessary, would all companies pollute, the same amount, or more but not all? Why?
this was a great article Erika! but also very sad! It's horrible that they would let the polluted water go into our waterways for so long like you said. I also think that it is not fair that all of the workers are going to have to suffer even though some of them might not have known what was going on. I think the company deserves what is happening though. That definitly is A LOT of money like you said and they deserve it for polluting our water. If it were up to me, i think they should have to pay even more than that until the problem is solved and the water can be saved.
ReplyDeleteI found another website that lists other companies who have to pay big fine for polluting water also. I hope you find it interesting.
http://iplextra.indiatimes.com/article/04mve2m6WVcXI
Hey guys, nice article. I agree with you guys that it is sad that the company and other companies like this one are punished so severely that they can go out of buisness. However the company sould have thought about that before they polluted wetlands and other places with this storm water. If the fine was small, the company might pay it and continue to polute the water just for convenience. We need these high penaltys so the companies do not continue to polute bodies of water. This can tremendously help the quality of water. Plus any money the EPA aquires from paid violations can be used to help imrove the water quality.
ReplyDeleteHere is a website I found that displays EPA reports about drinking water violations:
http://cfpub.epa.gov/compliance/resources/reports/accomplishment/sdwa/
YO YO YO? WAZUP FOSHIZO??? I really enjoyed reading this summary because it's so cotroversial! I was sitting there, reading it, arguing with myself on which side to take!!! I still have no idea because the company should be punished because they knew they were violating things, but didnt stop. Even so, there were probably many workers that couldnt have done anything about this and needed a job, like Erika said. So, they shouldnt be punished, but if you are going to punish the company, these workers ARE going to be effected negetivly. So, I honestly don't know what to do... I need more opinions, facts, other people to debate with, things of that nature. But going with my gut I would fine them heavily. And you bring up a good point about what all this fine money will be used for, I mean, that's a TON of money and sounds like it could be put to good use if managed correctly. I don't know about the EPA, but I would start by cleaning up the water and surrounding land effected by this company and then move onto bigger problems that they had already been working on. Might as well finish something already started instead of letting it sit around and get even worse than it already is.
ReplyDeleteLastly, I round this picture of a pollutes stream which could very well look like the one that this comany was dumping into. It's really a fantastic picture, well, not like it's a good thing it's just a good picture. Here's the link:
http://www.frenkelers.com/images/common/polluted-stream.jpg
wow! What makes companies think that discharging waste and contaminated water into bodies of water or anywhere on Earth is a good thing? Is money all that people care about? I know that the workers didn't have a choice because they had to do what there bosses told them to do. Although, they could speak up and tell someone that their company is doing this to the enivironment. This could severely hurt our environment and kill off organisms in these bodies of water!
ReplyDeleteIn response to your question "If a permit wasn't necessary, would all companies pollute, the same amount, or more but not all? Why?"
I think that some companies, depending on who runs the company, will see not having the need for a permit as a go-ahead to polluting these areas. It is much easier than getting it cleaned up in the safe environmentally consience way. Although, those companies with people who actually have a brain that consists of something other than getting money will see that it will still hurt the environment and won't do it.