Environmental Crimes: Should BP be charged?
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at 12:00AM 
Protest this past weekend along the Gulf in Jackson Square, New Orleans.Has BP committed an environmental crime?
U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, thinks so. “Without question the word ‘criminal’ should be used in terms of an environmental crime against our country,” Markey said Sunday in an interview on Face the Nation. “I have no confidence whatsoever in BP. I think they do not know what they were doing, in terms of anything that they’re doing is going to turn out as they’re predicting.”
Those are harsh words, coming from a Congressman who heads a committee investigating the disaster. “Environmental crime” is not an example of political grandstanding or hyperbole. It is a crime to violate particular environmental laws. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investigates environmental crimes through its Office of Criminal Enforcement. The FBI also investigates and brings criminal charges for environmental crimes, such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 and Rocky Flats in 1992. Rocky Flats made materials for nuclear weapons and was considered one of the worst nuclear waste disasters.
BP’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico dwarfs the Exxon Valdez spill. It’s clearly the worst oil spill to ever occur near the United States. Oil continues to gush into the Gulf as every attempt to stem its flow has failed. Now, we learn, it may not be until the end of summer before the spill is over.
What do you think? Does the BP spill qualify as an “environmental crime?” Should BP be so charged? All this week on OurValues.org, we’ll consider this question. In case you missed it, yesterday’s post was about the 1st Memorial Day—if you don’t know about this event in 1865, take a look—You might be as surprised as I was!
Please, “Post a Comment” before you leave.
(Originally posted in www.OurValues.org)
Reader Comments (4)
Posted from an Emailed comment by Ken Wilson:
As a Christian and a pastor, I look to scripture for guidance and the biblical record seems quite clear to me. I wrote a blog post on this, based on Genesis, if you'd like to read the whole thing: Ken Wilson Online June 1 post.
Basically, I'm saying that the resulting teaching for our lives today seems clear as well: For better or worse, we are the dominant and dominating species on this planet. For better or worse, we rule. Increasingly, the other creatures thrive, survive or suffer, in the space we allow them. Our rule over the sea creatures and the flying birds in the Gulf of Mexico has missed the mark of our calling. We were the ones chanting “Drill Baby Drill” when the price of oil started to rise. We were the ones looking out for our own interests first, the blessed interests of the other creatures be damned. Maybe it’s time for us to take a step back from the shrill voices of the culture war and consider the wisdom of the ages.
I am reminded of the comment made by Robert Oppenheimer after the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in WWII. As he was one of the inventor/creators of the bomb, his
comment: "I have become death" reminds me of the role of BP in the current oil spill. I
think the same could be said of them.
I also see this oil spill as the" Canary in the Coal Mine". The coal mine being the earth, the canary being the oil spill. The canary is dead and we better move real fast to save ourselves.
If corporations are people for political purposes, then they should be treated like people when it comes to criminal law.
If I dumped a bucket of crude oil on a beach, I'd be arrested and charged. I don't see why BP, Trans Ocean, or any other corporation should be treated differently.