Exxon Valdez
Exxon-Valdez is a large corporation with a large amount of responsibility to the environment, the public, and to whomever the company affects. In 1989, Exxon-Valdez proved itself to be a socially irresponsible company. Exxon-Valdez allowed a known alcoholic to operate a supertanker, by appealing the five billion dollar award to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lowering the amount, and for not compensating the initial oil-spill cleaners for acquiring diseases and sicknesses for handling carcinogenic materials. The captain of the supertanker, which grounded out on in charted territory, was Joseph Hazelwood. "Plaintiffs alleged that [Joseph] Hazelwood ran the ship aground while drunk." (Kravets, 03A) They also alleged that Mr. Hazelwood had a drinking problem prior to 1989 and Exxon-Valdez was aware of this. Exxon-Valdez had several complaints filed by crewmembers of Mr. Hazelwood that he was drinking on his shifts. Hazelwood was acquitted of operating the supertanker while intoxicated based on the lack of evidence but the point remains that Exxon-Valdez had the opportunity and information to take action on this issue and did not due to the poor management philosophy held by Exxon-Valdez. Exxon-Valdez should be held accoun
Exxon-Valdez is a company and all companies should be held responsible for their actions and Exxon-Valdez should have to continue to pay for the damages to the environment and the public until everyone has be reinbrused for their losses and stresses and until everything in the environment has returned to its original state. Exxon-Valdez should be held responsible for those affected by the fumes and exposure to the carcinogenic diesel because Exxon-Valdez should of been aware the safety risks of their cargo and should have had a contingency plan in case the oil was spilt on how to properly handle the spill. More commonly, "the long-term side effects of prolonged exposure to diesel and diesel fumes include a lowered resistance to disease, skin cancer, lung cancer, and loss of motivation and coordination. Exxon-Valdez should be held responsible for the environmental damages because of the aftermath of an oil spill is devastating to nature but this spill hurt more than just nature. " (Postman, R3) This may seem like a large sum of money but eight hundred thousand dollars apiece does not replace nor repair all the lives and homes of everyone affected by this tragedy. Exxon-Valdez's 1989 spill also caused serious illnesses to their clean-up crew and to the volunteers that offered their time and services to help clean up the oil spilt in the Aleutian Range. " (Dubbins, 2) "The short-term side effects include irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, lightheadedness, heartburn, headache, weakness, numbness and tingling in extremities, chest tightness, wheezing, and vomiting. To this day, Exxon-Valdez has paid approximately "three billion three hundred million dollars" (Kravets, 03A) to repair, clean, compensate, and replace the environment that they destroyed and the people that they hurt physically and financially. Circuit Court of Appeals "overturn[ed] the five billion dollar award" (Kravets, 03A) in 1991 and lowered the amount and made Exxon-Valdez pay three billion dollars in damages. " (Dubbins, 1-2) Thousands of the oil spill cleaners filed formal complaints about respiratory problems. The damages and fees are far above three billion dollars or the originally suggested five billion dollar award. According to Dan Pettit, executive director of the Cordova District Fisherman United, Exxon-Valdez's spill has made the Cordova harbour, "a dead zone for the next five hundred years. Exxon-Valdez hired doctors and told their doctors to tell the workers that "they had colds or flu. Exxon-Valdez has proven itself to be a highly socially irresponsible company for allowing such incidents to occur and then to try to lower the five billion dollar award assessed which would not of been enough money to repair all the damage done had the award not been appealed.
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