This case is a classic example of how Latent Organizational Failures INFLUENCE the decision-making of workers (and middle managers). At the end of this press release, the DOJ admits that “Company management had informed some of its employees that if operations came to a halt, the company would suffer serious financial harm, potentially including dissolution.” Also, the DOJ pointed out that from late 2019 to the beginning of 2024, the facility was accepting more TBOH and other chemicals from its customers than it could legally and safely process and remove. To ensure operations did not come to a halt and realize a maximum profit, the facility released the TBOH byproduct from Tank 14, causing it to flow into the Cape Fear River.
Yet the DOJ prosecuted the sole manager who hooked up the hose and opened the valve to drain the waste into the river.
Was he solely responsible for his actions, or was he doing what had to be done to keep the business afloat? Was he the middle man, stuck with more inventory than his plant could process?
Agree or Disagree?
According to the information presented in court, the chemical processing company located beside the Cape Fear River was incorporated in 1992 to blend and market industrial-grade ethyl alcohol. The company’s services included distillation, dehydration, reaction, carbon treating, and blending of various chemicals and products from partners across the United States. The facility regularly intakes large quantities of tert-butyl alcohol (TBOH) from its customer base, which the facility then distills into a usable product for such customers. TBOH is a pollutant that constitutes solid waste, chemical waste, and industrial waste under the law. During distillation, the facility created and stored byproducts in an approximately 250,000-gallon storage tank (known as Tank 14), which regularly stored liquid wastewater that included—in addition to TBOH—tert-butyl hydroperoxide, isopropyl alcohol, and acetone mixed with water. TBOH is a highly flammable, colorless, oily liquid with a sharp alcohol odor.
The defendant, the Production Manager at the main facility, led logistics at the facility, oversaw the movement of pollutants and various waste products within the business, and supervised numerous other employees. Such logistics included the movement of chemicals from one tank to another and the movements from tanker trucks in and out of facilities. He reported directly to corporate management.
Five to six times per year, from 2020 to 2024, he released approximately 2,500 gallons of liquid wastewater from Tank 14. He did so by connecting a hose to Tank 14 and then turning a valve to initiate the flow of liquid from the tank. The hose drained into a nearby pipe that drained to an outfall flowing directly to the Cape Fear River.
The facility was required to properly dispose of TBOH byproducts according to its EPA-issued permit. However, beginning in late 2019 to the beginning of 2024, the facility was accepting more TBOH and other chemicals from its customers than it could legally and safely process and remove. To ensure operations did not come to a halt and realize a maximum profit, the facility released the TBOH byproduct from Tank 14, causing it to flow into the Cape Fear River. Company management had informed some of its employees that if operations came to a halt, the company would suffer serious financial harm, potentially including dissolution.
Although the company has not been charged with a crime or admitted to wrongdoing.