A permanent cement plug sealed BP's well nearly 2.5 miles below the sea floor in the Gulf, five agonizing months after an explosion sank a drilling rig and led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. We have all heard about the BP oil spill on April 20 in the Gulf of Mexico that leaked 206 million gallons of oil and killed 11 workers; however has anyone heard of what is being done to clean up all the damage. There has been much speculation as to what the proper procedure Obama should take in order to do the job and punish the ones responsible. Right now the EPA is under staffed by nearly 40 Investigators for the Criminal Investigation Division (CID). They are the ones responsible for investigating the most serious environmental crimes and corporate pollution offenses. The U.S. Pollution Prosecution Act of 1990 requires a minimum of 200 CID agents, right now there are only 140. If Obama wants to take the right step at fixing this problem, the CID needs “leadership that helps rather than hinders its special agents in making busts that stick.”
Rebecca Jania
http://environment.about.com/b/2010/09/13/is-obama-soft-on-environmental-crime.htm
There does need to be tougher punishments on corporations that repeatedly prove they have no regard for safety or the environment. This article does make me curious as to what punishment was given to Exxon after the Exxon Valdez incident since it has many similarities. Also it poses the question if we should allow these companies to keep peddling their products and making money off of Americans after they devastate our environment and many peoples lives.
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