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Yes, you're right - I have seen "the Corporation" and I agree with the premise.  Another good movie about this topic is "A Civil Action", which highlights the importance of whistleblowers in a workplace where workers facilitated the pollution but finally had the courage and conscience to expose it. In my case, the authorities were too busy divvying up a fine of $240,000 ($156,000 to DOJ and $84,000 to the Governor's Fund) to devote any thought to changing the mindset of the industry that allows illegal environmental acts to happen if the price is right.  It was a case which began with a bribe and ended with another bribe to protect the system. When are we going to get real change from the new administration? Are the same people who were in charge going to burrow into the new administration? I wonder where  our Senators and our new AG stand on the subject of transparency.

posted 4 years ago
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As an environmental whistleblower, I support the creation of an environmental crimes unit, but will it really be effective against large polluters?  My experience showed me that whether you are dealing with state or federal authorities, they both answer to political power, not to the enforcement of environmental law. The only one who is punished in the process is the whistleblower for exposing the inadequacies of both sides.  Levying fines does not change the mindset of polluters; that is merely the cost of doing business.  But until the mindset is changed by complete exposure of the crime and the judicial process, the effects of pollution will remain with us. From my own 8- year experience,  I would not recommend that anyone come forward when they see or hear of an environmental crime. There is no support from authorities, the personal cost is too great, and the rewards non-existent. The government seems to treat perpetrators of environmental crimes with a special deference that is withheld from whistleblowers. I've discovered that government agencies do not care about doing the right thing; They seem to care more about the appearance of justice and collecting money than imposing effective sentences to bring about genuine  change. 

http://wweek.com/editorial/3440/11374/

http://wweek.com/editorial/3340/9395/

posted 4 years ago
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We the PEOPLE are the culprits because we do not speak out when we see wrongdoing. We do not speak out against our employers as well as our weak government enforcers. People just don't want to get involved and think someone else will do it for them.

http://portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=23011

http://wweek.com/editorial/3340/9395/

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1208917515292290.xml&coll=7

http://www.oregon-health.org/assets/PH/PH10405.htm

http://www.oregon-health.org/assets/PH/PH12405.htm

Kinder Morgan agreed to plead guilty to felonious ocean
dumping 5 years ago by paying a $240,000 fine to the USDOJ. But the
settlement contained no exposure of the attempts to cover up essential
elements that would incriminate others who were involved in the case.
The agreement between Kinder Morgan and the government pins the felony
on one unidentified KM employee, which strains credulity when
considering the number of longshoremen, river pilots, tugboat operators,
and other terminal employees who facilitated this load of potash to be
shipped downriver and out to sea. As the whistleblower who brought this
to the EPA's attention, I can attest to the fact that everyone
remained silent for months. The corporate, government and union
officials involved actively tried to cover it up for 5 years. And its
final conclusion is just more of the same, when a fine can buy silence,
not true exposure to correct not only corporate practices but also union
and government practices as well. This case shows that it will remain
business as usual on the waterfront, and the integrity at our ports can
be bought with a fat checkbook. For more information about this case
please contact Senator Wyden's office in Washington, D.C.

Jerry Cressa

posted 5 years ago
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