Company Involved: BP (British Petroleum) Texas City Refinery
http://www.icem.org/en/27-North-America/1554-BP’s-Texas-Oil-Refinery-Blast-May-See-Criminal-Indictments
http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9007590&contentId=7014495
Following an outage on Wednesday, March 23, 2005, an explosion and consequential fire occurred which took 15 lives, and injured at least 170 people. Reports later cited many incidences as being the cause, along with the jobs performances or lack thereof, during the day. The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions a.k.a www.icem.org/ published an article called, "BP’s Texas Oil Refinery Blast May See Criminal Indictments" which mainly focused on numbers. The numbers were used to measure deaths, injuries, and the large fines assigned to BP, due to mismanagement. The article was considerably brief, and hardly sensationalistic, in comparision to other articles I'm sure are out there.
The press release from BP Oil is much more technical, suggesting it was a more natural chemical explosion than one resulting from inadequate resources, and improper maitenance. They did however mention some negligence, but place it almost as a footnote to the technical explanation. BP also included the same numbers of fines, but not deaths as the other article, but only after they represented the relief and aid money being arranged, rather than the deaths. They also site that the company doesn't necessarily agree with what the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration charged them with. They ended the release with intent to reform the wrongs and enact preventative measures.
Both articles don't really choose an extreme side, both seem as objective as allowed in their separate circumstances. Both included much of the same information but were different in what information surrounding the case they highlighted.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Monday, April 9, 2007
Biographies
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.Besides being a member of one of the most famous families in American history, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an environmental lawyer and co-host of Air America Radio's Ring of Fire. In the late 1970s- early 1980s, Bobby Jr. received several degrees from some of the nation’s most prestigious universities including Harvard, University of Virginia, and the Pace University School of Law. In 1984, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. served 1500 hours of community service with Riverkeeper, an organization that seeks to "protect the environmental, recreational and commercial integrity of the Hudson River and its tributaries, and to safeguard New York City's and Westchester County's drinking water supply." After his service hours were completed the organization ended up hiring him as their chief prosecuting attorney. This position provided valuable experience and ignited a passion for the environment in Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He later returned to his alma mater, the Pace University School of Law, to act as a Clinical Professor of Environmental Law and co-director of the Environmental Litigation Clinic. With the cooperation of two good friends, Chris Bartle and John Hoving, the three founded a water bottling company, Keeper Springs, in which all profits go to the Waterkeeper Alliance, River keeper's umbrella organization. Kennedy Jr. has also written numerous books concerning the environment to raise awareness.
http://riverkeeper.org/ourstory_operations.phphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy,_Jr.
Dr. John A McLachlanDirector of the Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane and Xavier Universities since 1995, Dr. John A Mclachlan received his B.A. degree in Liberal Arts from the Johns Hopkins University and followed by a pharmacology doctoral degree from the George Washington University. He spent twenty years serving the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). While there, Dr. McLachlan discovered how certain environmental chemicals affect fetal development. This revelation caused Dr. McLachlan to be named Scientific Director of the NIEHS in 1989. In the initial years at Tulane University, Dr. McLachlan created the nation’s first Environmental Astrobiology Research Center, and established the Mississippi River Interdisciplinary Research Program. Dr. McLachlan’s research and respected opinion has been published in an extensive amount of scientific journals and books. He is also frequently invited to speak, much like in the Waterways Conference 2007, but also to larger establishments like European Parliament.In April 1997, he was one of the elite few, including the company of Tiger Woods and George W. Bush, picked by Newsweek for the “Century Club: One of the 100 People to Watch as America Moves into the Next Millennium.”
http://riverweb.org/track-rsphere.htmlhttp://e.hormone.tulane.edu/elabs/JohnMcLachlan.htm
http://riverkeeper.org/ourstory_operations.phphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy,_Jr.
Dr. John A McLachlanDirector of the Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane and Xavier Universities since 1995, Dr. John A Mclachlan received his B.A. degree in Liberal Arts from the Johns Hopkins University and followed by a pharmacology doctoral degree from the George Washington University. He spent twenty years serving the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). While there, Dr. McLachlan discovered how certain environmental chemicals affect fetal development. This revelation caused Dr. McLachlan to be named Scientific Director of the NIEHS in 1989. In the initial years at Tulane University, Dr. McLachlan created the nation’s first Environmental Astrobiology Research Center, and established the Mississippi River Interdisciplinary Research Program. Dr. McLachlan’s research and respected opinion has been published in an extensive amount of scientific journals and books. He is also frequently invited to speak, much like in the Waterways Conference 2007, but also to larger establishments like European Parliament.In April 1997, he was one of the elite few, including the company of Tiger Woods and George W. Bush, picked by Newsweek for the “Century Club: One of the 100 People to Watch as America Moves into the Next Millennium.”
http://riverweb.org/track-rsphere.htmlhttp://e.hormone.tulane.edu/elabs/JohnMcLachlan.htm
New Blog, News Release
WaterWays 2007 is an annual function at the University of North Texas in Denton whose purpose is to raise awareness and gather support surrounding some pivotal water basin issues. The Philosophy of Water organizes this meeting with cooperations from other dynamic departments of the univeristy, including the department of Environmental Journalism, the School of Visual Arts, and the department of Philosophy and Religion Studies, the Elm Fork Education Center, and the Institute of Applied Sciences.
Experts with influences of art, philosophy, policy, and science come together at this conference with common intent to appeal to several demographics and increase the effectivity of their message. The Waterways 2007 Conference will specifically be addressing the water issues of the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin. This event will be held March 13-15th in the Environmental Science Building. The water sessions are open to the public at no cost to them thanks to the sponsorship of the Dixie Water Foundation. For more information, you may visit the website, http://www.water.unt.edu/waterways.htm , or call (940) 565-2266.
Experts with influences of art, philosophy, policy, and science come together at this conference with common intent to appeal to several demographics and increase the effectivity of their message. The Waterways 2007 Conference will specifically be addressing the water issues of the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin. This event will be held March 13-15th in the Environmental Science Building. The water sessions are open to the public at no cost to them thanks to the sponsorship of the Dixie Water Foundation. For more information, you may visit the website, http://www.water.unt.edu/waterways.htm , or call (940) 565-2266.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)