Mendoza Oil Case Summary

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Relevant Facts Ashland Oil Incorporated, the largest oil refiner in the country at the time of this case analysis, was faced with a great dilemma when one of the tanks constructed by the company itself, ruptured while being filled. On Saturday, January 2nd of 1988, employees of Ashland Oil were filling one of their tanks at the Floreffe terminal outside of Pittsburgh, when the tank collapsed and released approximately three and a half million gallons of petroleum into nearby dikes. Of the initial spill, around three-quarters of a million gallons of petroleum poured into the Monogahela River, located in Floreffe, Pennsylvania. It contaminated drinking sources for over a million people in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Ashland personnel immediately called the …show more content…

Their negligence began with the construction of the tank and grew as the oil spill continued. The attempted to show no responsibility or blame for what had happened with the construction of the tank. Nor where they ready for an incident of this magnitude. The company showed malfeasance in dealing with the issues at hand and most of the issues could have been alleviated had they taken proper care in the construction of the failed tank. Ashland Oil's response to the incident was very slow. The company's response indicated that it had governmental guidelines to respond to an incident of this nature, but none of its own standard operating procedures for crisis response. This crisis highlighted the company's lack of internal conduct and safety operating procedures for checks and balances of its industries. Furthermore, this incident showed a lack of policy and involvement by government agencies. These agencies should have taken active roles through continual inspections and verifications of the plants operations. =====

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