Editorial Rant ~ Corporate Terrorism- part 1

It is absolutely true: Blowing people up with explosives is a horrendous act. Those who do such things deserve to be hunted down and brought to justice.
We’ve seen the powerful manhunt images of all those police cars and SWAT vehicles in pursuit of those who killed three innocent people in the explosions in Boston.
We didn’t see any such pursuit when the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia blew up in 2010. Twenty-nine innocent miners died. Massey Energy was found to have repeatedly and flagrantly violated safety regulations, causing the murderous coal-dust explosion. Where was the manhunt for the corporate crooks who were responsible? We didn’t see any such pursuit when British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig blew up in 2010. Eleven innocent workers died. BP, Transocean and Halliburton were found to have used cheap, defective materials and ignored safety systems, causing the murderous explosion.

Where was the manhunt for the corporate crooks who were responsible?
 We didn’t see any such pursuit when the West, Texas, fertilizer plant blew up this month. Fifteen innocent people died. The company was twice found in the past to be improperly storing highly explosive anhydrous ammonia. A recent inspection found 1,350 times the amount of ammonium nitrate that would require government oversight.

Where was the manhunt for the corporate crooks who were responsible?

It is absolutely true. Blowing people up with explosives is a horrendous act. Those who do such things deserve to be hunted down and brought to justice.

ROSCOE CARON

Eugene 

I will add the recent gross negligence cases in Bangladesh-- the clothing factory fire in Nov 2012, where 117 died, & 200 were injured- making it the deadliest factory fire in the nation's history. 

Last week 362 clothing factory workers died & 900 more are missing, in a collapsed building. 

And one more issue-- why are there people with hammers & others risking their lives to try to find survivors? Why is there not  big equipment machinery & rescue teams???

As for BP:

BP pleaded guilty to each count charged in an information filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana, including 11 counts of felony manslaughter, one count of felony obstruction of Congress and violations of the Clean Water and Migratory Bird Treaty Acts. 

BP also admitted during its guilty plea that the company, through a senior executive, obstructed an inquiry by the U.S. Congress into the amount of oil being discharged into the Gulf while the spill was ongoing.  BP also admitted that the senior executive withheld documents, provided false and misleading information. 

BP’s public estimate of 5,000 barrels of oil per day. 

  The Flow Rate Technical Group, consisting of government and independent scientists, later concluded that more than 60,000 barrels per day were leaking into the Gulf during the relevant time, contrary to BP’s representations to Congress.