The penalties come after an investigation by The Desert Sun and ProPublica found that companies were profiting from illegal spills and California’s oversight of the industry was lax.
Not only is the fine ridiculously low, they will also most likely not get other fines for the spills because they „have been punished already“.
However, it seems that prosecutors need to grab what they can. I imagine an appropriately large fine would take years or decades of litigation when Chevron invariably sues, appeals, etc
Government treats fines for company’s like they do for regular people.
Oh, you broke the law? Okay pay for the damage and maybe a small fee for administration costs for us having to do paperwork.
Companies should be paying the fee for clean up, and then 10x whatever that costs as punitive fines which go into a fund specifically for environmental restoration to cover the times that companies prefer to go bankrupt and can’t afford the cleanup.
$10 million to clean up this spill?
Alright that’s $100 million in fines, not $1 million.
13 million is the ‘record’ fine. They made 23 billion last year.
edit- https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1965-Broadway-New-York-NY-10023/2077836945_zpid/ here is a single condo in new york that costs more then their ‘record’ fine.
Not only is the fine ridiculously low, they will also most likely not get other fines for the spills because they „have been punished already“.
However, it seems that prosecutors need to grab what they can. I imagine an appropriately large fine would take years or decades of litigation when Chevron invariably sues, appeals, etc
Imagine holding the executives criminally liable for building a company that causes environmental destruction.
Ah but then line might not go up
Government treats fines for company’s like they do for regular people.
Oh, you broke the law? Okay pay for the damage and maybe a small fee for administration costs for us having to do paperwork.
Companies should be paying the fee for clean up, and then 10x whatever that costs as punitive fines which go into a fund specifically for environmental restoration to cover the times that companies prefer to go bankrupt and can’t afford the cleanup.
$10 million to clean up this spill?
Alright that’s $100 million in fines, not $1 million.