A Civil Action: The Legal Process to Discovery
Environmental awareness has grown over they years. There is no doubt that someone knows another person who is aware of what they do to the environment. People recycle more often and they get upset when big companies harm the environment and not take responsibility. But there was a point in time where people were not so aware of what they did to the environment. A time that was different than know. A Civil Action, a book written by Jonathan Harr, follows the case of Anne Anderson et al. v. W. R. Grace & Co. et al. as they seek out the companies that contaminated the wells that they drank from so that they could own up for what they had done.
Upon getting married a young family moves out to Woburn to start their lives. Not long after the family starts to grow, that is until one fateful night when the youngest son of Anne Anderson gets sick. They thought that it was just a cold because the entire family was sick. But once everyone else was better from the virus, young Jimmy Anderson was still sick. After taking him to the doctor they found out that he had a form of leukemia. Eventually Anne Anderson learns that there are four other families who have had young children diagnosed with the cancer. In the back of Anne’s mind she thought that the reason that the children were getting sick was because of an environmental influence. The only problem with that was that no one believed that was the reason for the cancer. That is until more and more children were being diagnosed with the cancer. She talked to the reverend about what was going on and they plotted where the cases of leukemia were located in town and took it to the doctor. This surprised the doctor and he called a friend of his...
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...y self explanatory but I do think that it helps big companies more than it does people who have lost something. The law should hold companies more responsible for what they do if they do something that can hurt the people that work there or the people that live near the company. I already thought that politics was not the best thing and this book has not changed that opinion at all.
Although the Woburn case was not the case that everyone thought it would be the companies were suspected of causing the contamination still had to face what they had done. It is hard to believe that at one point in time people did not want to protect the people that they loved from environmental dangers. This case, even though it was not what they thought it would be, as impacted the country and increased awareness in what we do to the environment will eventually impact how we live.
I think this unfortunate circumstance has made organizations look close into the products and services they offer. No one wants to clean up a mess that could be easily avoided. Even if they do it as a marketing plan that was found out by the public, it would prove to bring about a negative view of the firm. Also, I think it also stresses how companies influence society and how important it is for them to be responsible.
In the 1970s, engineers found contaminants in the local wells: Well H and Well G. They found suspected carcinogens including trichloroethylene (TCE) known to cause cancer. Families gathered after the Anderson family noticed the recurring events of a rare disease in a small town. Although Woburn had a history of industrial activity, the two major companies that contributed to the contaminants were W.R. Grace Co. and Beatrice Foods. The families sought help and went to a Boston lawyer, Joe Mulligan, and signed his firm. No one picked up the case due to not enough evidence, but Jan Schlictmann, who was a newcomer, picked up the Woburn case. Although advised to neglect it, he still looked into it. He joined with a non-profit firm who were seeking an environmental case like Woburn’s. They quickly filed a complaint against the two major companies.
...d few such as Anna, Stella, and Alice who broke free of the poison, lived their lives as Sam Toms’ did who rooted the family. They as he did lied, cheated, manipuled, and kept secrets to try to live a happy life which in actuality their lives were anything but.
After Toosweet (Anne’s mother), quit a domestic job she had with a lady that worked her so hard, she got another domestic job with the Johnson’s. Mrs. Johnson was a school teacher and Mr. Johnson was a rancher who bought and sold cattle. The Johnson were very nice to Anne and her family. However, it was Mr. Johnson mother, Miss Ola, who lived with the Johnson’s that appeared to have impacted Anne the most in the household. Though Anne did a lot of chores for Miss Ola, Anne learned to like Miss Ola very much and they had lots of fun together. Miss Ola would bake cookies for them every Saturday and had a bell she would ring when she had cooked something for them or wanted them to do something for her. The old lady (Miss Ola) who would call
Exxon/Mobil, one of the nation’s leading oil producers, has its main refinery located in Beaumont, Texas. Each year, the residents of Beaumont/Port Arthur have to contend with the 39,000 pounds of pollution spewed each year by the Exxon refinery. Exxon’s emissions are 385% above the state refinery average. In 1999, the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Committee (TNRCC) allowed the plant to increase their emissions, without allowing the public to have a say in the matter. Interestingly, 95% of the people living near the plant are of African American descent and are in the poverty range. Some believe that this, along with the lack of education in the area, allows Exxon to get away with such high emissions. Residents in nearby neighborhoods have been complaining of headaches, nausea, eye, and throat irritation for years. Since 1997, Mobil has repeatedly violated health standards in its emissions of two key air pollutants: sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, These “rotten egg” smells are so strong, one can smell it through a car driving past the refinery. After numerous complaints and one record of a refinery worker becoming unconscious because of the fumes, the EPA awarded Exxon with a $100,000 environmental justice grant in October of 1998. Hopefully, Exxon has put the money to good use and cleaned up their emissions.
The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA is the result of a 1970 executive order by President Richard Nixon for the purpose of protecting the environment of the United States through regulation on business and citizens. Public opinion on the Environmental Protection Agency has been divided fairly evenly across the population of the United States as of recently, as compared to the widespread public concern of the 50’s and 60’s that led to the agency’s creation. Recently the agency has come under scrutiny for its contributions of millions of dollars in grants to researchers in order to hide the potential trade off of its actions in order to further the agency’s agenda. The EPA’s ever-expanding regulation could end up harming more than it actually
The past few weeks had been hot, dry, and rainless. A drought. Rain had not fallen for three months. Though, despite the drought, the O’Leary family had been having an exceptional October. The O’Leary family consisted of Mrs. O’Leary, her husband and 5 children. Mr. O’Leary worked as a laborer, as Mrs. O’Leary kept with the cows and the children. The family was on welfare, but were livng pretty fair lives, and Mrs. O’Leary was selling fresh milk on the side. A small way to make some more money for her family.
The story of Laura Bodey intrigued me much more than the other half of the book. This is because it was more personal. It was more than just facts. Laura Bodey is a mother of two, a divorced wife, and “in” a relationship with a married man. She has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She starts going on chemotherapy. Her body is becoming more and more weak. She has to go through several treatments. When she is almost through with her set of treatments, the doctors find that the chemo isn’t working.
How a death squad came into her house one night and took her family, except her because she hid in the closet like her father told her too. Later she escaped to the neighbor’s house, where the neighbors took her and arranged people to sneak her out the country. Because her father was an editor her father thought that they had so much influence that they would be safe. She never saw her family again. They disappeared.
Before the 1970s, environmental policy was not the more publicized issue that it is today. After the Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969, the environmental movement really took off. The federal government took the situation into their hands and paid more attention to environmental policy than they had been doing in the past. While the states still have quite a bit of power when it com...
For Mary Heersink, all is good. And all that is not good can be fixed. It's the way it is. Mary's husband, Marnix, is a doctor in their residence state of Alabama. The book opens with Marnix applying for a medical license in Florida, even though he already has licenses in eleven other states. Mary disagrees with the hard work that Marnix is putting himself through for something he doesn't need, but eventually gives in and lets him do what he wants to do. February is a busy month for the Heersinks. Bayne, the youngest son is turning nine, Sebastian is heading off to camp, and eleven-year-old Damion is going on a Boy Scout campout and has a soccer tournament when he comes back. Commotion is common in the household, so Mary learns to deal with it. Sending Damion off to the campout, Mary notices some hamburger meat left out. She doesn't question it much: She's a mother, she's made to worry about everything. She pushes the worry aside and later regrets it. Damion comes home and spends Friday night at a friend's house before his big soccer game and car trip to Florida to send his brother Sebastian to camp the next day. Damion is not well. He is pale, has an upset stomach, and a certain lightness fills his body. Mary, like any mother would, stops at the pharmacy on the way to the game and purchases Pepto-Bismol among other things to help make her son feel better. This would be another thing she would soon learn to regret. They eventually take the car trip, even as Damion's illness continues to get worse. It gets so bad that Damion is eventually admitted into the hospital. Antibiotics are administered. Doctors at the first hospital are not helping enough, so Damion is transferred to St. Joseph's. Days in the hospital are described like a roller-coaster ride. Damion is hallucinating, begging for water, and his organs are going out one-by-one.
“Unsurprisingly, the EPA concluded that the health risks caused by environmental hazards in Chester are ‘unacceptably high’ for virtually all Chester residents” (“Environmental Racism in Chester”). They discovered that the Chester population had a much higher percentage of lung cancer than before. Children in these areas were affected the most and had high amounts of lead in their blood. “Also, the EPA found that many Chester residents are already in poor health which makes them more susceptible to the aggravating effects of pollution” (“Toxic Waste in Chester, Pennsylvania”). While the discoveries of the EPA study upheld the concerns Chester inhabitants, the EPA, on the other hand, asserted to have no genuine force to help serious improvement in the Chester group; especially when DEP keeps on allowing licenses to RR&Z. This is when Chester’s people need to rely on each other to fight against this inequality. Zulene Mayfield, a member of the Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living (CRCQL), was one of the most influential people in the race for environmental justice. She was simply baffled at the amount of pollution and injustice from the waste treatment centers was bringing to
Over the last few years, the world has seen a growing movement that aims to save the Earth from one problem that threatens to kill all life on it: pollution. Pollution is a problem that continues to plague humanity today in the forms of plastics, greenhouse gases, and many more, which threatens today’s living beings. Even though the problem has been linked as the cause of drastic climate changes and several mass extinctions, several groups, most notably oil companies, still do not acknowledge it or attempt to prevent further pollution and avoid more destruction.
How familiar are you with cancer? Have you ever known someone who had cancer? For most people the answers are very little and no. Hazel Lancaster and Augustus Waters, the main characters in the novel The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, are teenagers who have been diagnosed with cancer. You might pity these young people at first because of their illness, but they’re both heroic characters, and just like Hazel says, “it’s just a touch of cancer”(217). Augustus and Hazel met each other through their cancer, and were inseparable until the very end. This #1 New York Times Bestseller, provokes a lot of emotion while dealing with a difficult and meaningful topic.
The worst imaginable environmental catastrophe that could occur in Maryland has just become a reality. The lifeblood of Southern Maryland's Watermen has been forever affected. The ecosystems of the Patuxtent River and Chesapeake Bay have been irreversibly contaminated. The Three Mile Island and Chernobyl Nuclear Accidents have affected the world ecosystems; but the Chalk Point oil spill has reached us here in Southern Maryland. The ethical considerations with generating electricity from fossil fuels, specifically oil, has a profound impact on us all. We all use electricity to make our lives easier and more productive. By using this electricity have we given our permission for the oil companies free reign in order to provide us with the service we demand?? Are we just as responsible for the oil spill as the corporate leaders who run the companies? As citizens we are in a position to develop and enforce regulations to protect ourselves. Do we also protect the environment; or is the environment just something for us to use? These and many other moral dilemmas exist for modern man.