In October 20, 1917, the U.S. Army’s oldest active proving ground was established located in Aberdeen, Maryland. Chemical weapons were developed on these grounds, and the U.S. Army used the Aberdeen Proving Ground to develop, test, store, and dispose of chemical weapons. Three chemical engineers named Carl Gepp, William Dee, and Robert Lentz, who were high-level, senior management levels at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, would eventually become notoriously known as the Aberdeen Three.
In 1976 the Resource Conservation Recovery Act was passed. This act is a main federal law in the United States that governs disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste. The act also generates criminal liability for anyone who knowingly handles hazardous waste without an RCRA permit. The Aberdeen Proving Grounds complied with the RCRA regulation and obtained a permit for management of hazardous waste materials at the proving grounds; however, only three separate areas at Aberdeen were designated for storage of hazardous wastes under this permit, and it did not allow storage, treatment, or disposal of hazardous wastes at the Pilot Plant or the Old Pilot Plant where the three engineers worked.
In 1982, Aberdeen announced a regulation called APG 200-2. The procedure was simple. Managers were to report any waste materials that were believed to be toxic, carcinogenic, caustic, ignitable, or reactive and were required to fill out a form known as a hard card. Once a hard card was received, designated Aberdeen organizations were responsible for transporting hazardous wastes to the permitted storage areas. The APG 200-2 regulation was both specific and extremely thorough. A standard operating procedure was issued in 1982 and reissued in 1984 as CRDCR 710-1.
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...ave been reprimanded by the engineering association and had their engineering licences revoked.
Based on the evaluation, all three engineers made an unethical decision to ignore the proper handling, regulations, and procedures of the hazardous wastes they were working with which put the welfare of the environment, general public, and co-workers at jeopardy and should, therefore, be held accountable and criminally responsible for their negligence in accordance to the Resource Conservation Recovery Act.
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U.S. Army Chemical School. (n.d.). History of the Chemical Corps (Essay). Retrieved May 18, 2014, from cbrn.wood.army.mi: https://cbrn.wood.army.mil/bbcswebdav/pid-47873-dt-content-rid-173075_1/courses/031_494-74D40-C46_CBRN_SLC_Phase_1_2014_000_01_N/031-SLA05%20History%20of%20Chem%20Corps%20%28essay%29%281%29.pdf
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The initial ethical guideline presented in the IEEE Code of Ethics states “to accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment”. In regards to health, safety and well-being of the public and environment, many would consider this to be the most important rule presented. Professions in electrical and electronic engineering operate in designing electrical syst...
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