Asarco

Asarco is an American Smelting and Refining Company.

This company paid the government $1.79 billion fore polluting over 19 states. One company, 19 states. What I don't understand is why the government allowed this to happen in the first place, and I certainly wonder how many other companies are out there doing the very same thing. One of the many environment misconducts that this company did was burning hazardous waste instead of proper disposition of it. I personally believe that it would be easier to dispose of it. Sure it would be expensive, but the bankruptcy that occurred in the end would have never happened had they disposed properly. Greed is definitely one of the underlying themes of pollution-as people like to make the most money and cut corners frequently when it comes to recycling. Although money does make the world go around, if you don't have a safe world to live in, what is the point of having money? Anyways, this burning ended up in the river, and it carried down stream which polluted soil and other waterways everywhere. Not only did this company burn illegally, it burned according to the wind's direction, and if it face Mexicon it burned more. This is because Mexico's air law are not as strict. They created chaos in more htatn 19 states, and they created chaos in another country-one that was not even theirs. As I said before, the money paid will help only a small portion of what was polluted, because the rest is just a large chain effect that brought about pollution where it should not have gone; even though this company literally paid their dues, it still does not fix the problem they created. The pollution they compiled and spilled across 19 states. This is what truly should be fixed and modified. The slap on the wrist and payment the company made did not fix anything. In fact, it almost puts out the message that pollution is okay-if you can get away with it, because then you just have to pay money and everything will be okay. Well, it is not okay because the effects that came from this single company will be lasting into several future generations. And just to think, that's only one company...what will happen to the environment as the other companies cut corners like Asarco. The future looks bleak from here as companies have no morals or ethics when it comes to the environment and the world they themselves live in. Asarco kind of represents how many Americans in society behave toward the environment, if they don't acknowledge it- it's not there. Well, hate to break it you America, it's there and you gotta care a lot more if anything is going to change.

Leslie Kaufman. 12 Dec. 2009. http://nytimes.com/asarco/relatedtopics-123=r_01=csc