The Home Depot reached a settlement deal with the EPA recently regarding violations of the Clean Water Act, specifically stormwater run off construction practices at more than 30 construction sites in 28 states. In no particular order here is a list of the locations:
- Bullhead City, Arizona
- Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
- Palm Coast, Florida
- Suwannee, Georgia
- Mishawaka, Indiana
- Garden City, Kansas
- Somerset, Massachusetts
- Ellsworth, Maine
- Auburn Hills, Michigan
- Willmar, Minnesota
- Blue Springs, Missouri
- Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina
- Omaha, Nebraska
- Rochester, New Hampshire
- Tilton, New Hampshire
- Seabrook, New Hampshire
- Londonderry, New Hampshire
- Alamogordo, New Mexico
- Lawton, Oklahoma
- Beaverton, Oregon
- Provo, Utah
- Crawfordsville, Indiana
- Juneau, Alaska
- Porterville, California
- Evergreen, Colorado
- Aurora (Saddlerock), Colorado
- Aurora (Pioneer Hills), Colorado
- Plymouth, Michigan
- Hattiesburg, Mississippi
- College Station, Texas
- Lewisville, Texas
- Wylie, Texas
- Austin, Texas
- American Fork, Utah
They settled for $ 1.3 Million dollars. The press release is HERE(1) . The info sheet is HERE(2). The Consent Decree in pdf is HERE(3).
I'd imagine that with pockets as deep as Home Depot this wont affect their bottom line too much. But that these issues even came up is silly. Just some basic construction and engineering practices would have prevented this. I guess thats what you get when you hire the low bid.
I'd imagine that with pockets as deep as Home Depot this wont affect their bottom line too much. But that these issues even came up is silly. Just some basic construction and engineering practices would have prevented this. I guess thats what you get when you hire the low bid.
This is an example of administrations like Bush's where they don't effectively enforce environmental standards, in this case with appropriate penalties. This settlement, for Home Cheapo, is a joke!
ReplyDeleteIt costs LESS for big corporations to break environmental laws and pay the penalties and lawyers' fees associated with it than it is for them to abide by the law in the first place. The only way they'll abide by the law is if you make it hurt more to break the law. Until that happens, why would they? Because it's the right thing to do? Yeah . . . right.