Analysis Of The Ethical Issue Of The Toxin Emission Caused By Ardnak Plastics

Introduction

The plant manager, George, is facing an ethical and moral question due to environmental problems. There are several options that George can take to either fix the air quality issue or let the plant move to Mexico with all the issues. Smokestacks at the plant are repeatedly releasing too many toxins into the air so the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is fining Ardnak Plastic Plant. However, George has the ability to copy other plants and change the time that the the plant manufacturers the product which will release the pollutants during the night. George is being threatened by his boss, Bill, to fix the problem.

The primary stakeholders in this case are George, his family, the townspeople of Hondo town, EPA, every citizen impacted by the pollution, the town in Mexico, and the environment (Fraedrich, 1992). Each stakeholder is depending on Ardnak, specifically George, to make the decision in their stand.

George should follow the Aretaic approach because it is the ethical system that is determined by moral character. Virtue ethics emphasizes the character of the actions that George takes. This is because the actions that George takes impacts a lot of people with different interests. If George followed Consequentialism/Utilitarianism, it would only matter what the outcome is which could negatively impact the community’s health. In addition, Deontological ethics do not apply because George’s actions should not motivated by solely his duty. This could lead him to follow his duty to Arnak which would not result in the best ethical outcome.

Salient Issues

Issue No. 1

Although George and Mary moved their family so that George could become an Ardnak plant manager, this should not be a primary concern of George in reaching an ethical decision. This is because we are applying Deontological ethics. George has a duty to fix the smokestack pollution because he is the plant manager. This is so that the plant does not impact the community’s public health.

Issue No. 2

It is immoral for Bill to foist upon George making the decision as to whether the Ardak plant relocates from Hondo to Mexico. Bill has pressure from governing bodies, such as the EPA, to shift the company in Mexico because of the uncontrolled air pollution. This does not give him the right to put this pressure on George because he does not want the responsibility. In addition, the messages Bill conveyed to George over the phone were intentionally amoral. Bill was careless about the ethical factors in this situation and wanted George to solve the issue.

After analyzing the Bill’s actions with George and the current situation of Ardnak, Bill and all the members of the Hondo Board of Directors as well as George’s contemporaries at the other Ardnak Plants in Texas are operating on Level 1 of Kohlberg’s scale of moral development.

Issue No. 3

One of the stakeholders in this situation are the citizens in Mexico. This stakeholder supplies government funding in situations that involve negative externalities such as air pollutant whether taxpayers are Mexican citizens paying taxes to the Mexican Government or U.S. citizens paying local property taxes to the U.S. Government.

The public policy goal in establishing EPA guidelines should be to protect public health of the community and the environment. This public policy goal for the EPA to protect people and the environment is not satisfied by the day-to-day monitoring because the competitors of Ardnak are getting away with releasing their emissions at night. Furthermore, with solely the punishment of fines, the EPA is encouraging businesses to stay in Level 1 of Kohlberg’s Model of Moral Development. Corporations like Ardnak are only reacting to punishments from the EPA and are not being proactive about focusing on the others (the community).

The Mexican government should prioritize its responsibility to the people’s health over the economy. Citizens look to the government to protect them, they assume that their government is not allowing companies to harm their families with air pollution. This does not mean that the government can let the economy slide as it is still a priority. There are other companies besides Ardnak that can bring new jobs, technology, and enhanced infrastructure that do not pollute the air. However, the government can allow Ardnak to keep its plant but to force the company to buy the smoke stack scrubbers that minimize the harmful emissions.

Contrastingly, the Texas Department of Environmental Control is prioritizing purchasing an expensive sports arena over smokestack scrubbers. If Texas can afford a sports arena, the Department of Environmental Control should be allocating money to preventing toxic emissions that will impact the public health.

Ethical Analysis

Ethical Issues

There are three main ethical issues in this case. These include misleading the EPA as to the true level of emissions from the plant, capitalizing on a neighboring country’s less stringent laws, and destroying an entire community’s infrastructure.

Misleading the EPA as to the true level of emissions from the plant would be an easy solution for George as it is quick and cheap. Plants are producing far more contaminants at night because they will not get caught. However, Ardnak’s smokestack emissions were consistently above EPA guidelines which impacts the community’s public health. This would not fix the issue, it would only hide it.

Capitalizing on Mexico’s less stringent laws would be another easy solution in this case. The Mexican government has agreed to enact a 5-year moratorium on clean air legislation in Mexico (Fraedrich, 1992). This would allow the plant to continue releasing emissions that are above the EPA guidelines for at least five years. However, this is not a permanent solution and it would only move the public health concern to Mexico instead of solving it.

Destroying a community’s infrastructure for the sake of public health but it is a difficult decision. If Ardnak closes their plant in Hondo and move to Mexico, all the people within the town of Hondo would be jobless.

Ethical Principles

To make an ethical decision, George needs to compare the ethical principles that apply which would include Kant’s moral philosophy and utilitarianism. Kant’s Categorical Imperative Theory states that people have a duty to action and the action that they take should have the best interest of everyone (Fontaine, Haarman & Schmid, 2006). Decisions should be made through analyzing moral actions and utilizing moral judgment. If the decision is based according to Kant’s theory, George must believe that it is right for everyone and it would be okay if other plants do the same. The right thing to do is to reduce the smokestack emissions because George has the duty to make the best decision for the community.

If following the Utilitarian theory, George should make his decision based solely on the outcome (Koehn, 1995). This can be interpreted two different ways in this case. The best outcome can be the choice with the most economic gain or it can protect the community’s health. Bill does not have the interests of the community in mind when he asked George to make a decision. This is because he wants George to take action that will benefit Bill and the plant. The requested actions of George would not favor the public health of the community, which is the majority. Instead, it favors Bill and the company economically.

Legal Analysis

Ardnak is regularly emitting harmful pollutants during operation which causes environmental and health issues. By continuing to release emissions above the EPA’s guidelines and, the company could soon be facing legal action. The Ardak plant is violating the “Clean Air Act” that was established in 1970 which protects the stakeholders, current, and future generations from air contaminants (EPA Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act, 2012). This act gives the EPA power to force corporations to fix the issue or close them down. This act from 1970 applies to this case because it is to protect public health and organizational stakeholders because of its concern about the quality of air (EPA Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act, 2012).

Conclusion and Recommendation

The Ardnak Plastics plant is violating multiple laws regarding the environment because the plant is releasing pollutants into the air. By knowingly releasing these pollutants, the Ardnak company is violating ethical rights of the stakeholders. George has been given the authority to address the problem and follow the EPA guidelines. The right path would be for George to follow the most ethical approach.

The first step is to request a meeting with the board of directors and report the threats that Bill made. The next step would be to seek legal counsel to force the issue. Contrastingly, if George acted unethically covered up the problem, it would have led to a decline in the community’s public health. The stakeholders for Ardnak Plastics depend on George to act on their behalf and make ethical decisions.

Some potential alternatives would include George hiding smoke at night, relocating to Mexico, looking for another job, discuss issue with upper manager, or buying smokestacks. However, it is unlikely that George has discretion to seek a costly solution.