Essay Sample on McWane Birmingham Plant

Introduction

The McWane Birmingham Plant is one of the most extensive iron waterworks and plumbing products manufacturers in the United States. The company has been involved in a scandal that involved poor environmental practices that resulted in health and safety concerns for the residents of Birmingham. Mr. Cook is resident in North Birmingham, near one of the company's plants. As a resident of the town, he is a secondary stakeholder. He has taken it upon himself to convince his audience to put more effort into changing their environmental standards and improve the lives of the community that lives in the area. His audiences are the company's owners and managers who feel like they are doing well in their environmental conservation efforts and that they have gone beyond in their environmental efforts. Therefore, it is up to Mr. Cook to convince his audience to refrain from dumping contaminants into Avondale and village creeks.

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The first argument in support of preventing dumping of containers is that the current strategy to focus on publicity instead of results is not sustainable. Your efforts so far to improve their environmental standards though commendable is not enough. According to Barstow and Bergman from the New York Times Magazine, "the company has taken action to improve its record," (par. 12). Many of your employees say that the company has been making improvements to its operations, especially after the company came under federal scrutiny (Barstow and Bergman par.13). These factors seem to indicate the intention of the company to improve its image. Unfortunately, for the residents of Birmingham, the focus has been on developing the company's image rather than a genuine attempt to improve the health and safety concerns of the residents of Birmingham. You have been overly focused on showboating their recent improvements to members of the media in an attempt to get people to notice the changes that you are making. The problem with that strategy is that you are appealing to the people's emotions and employees' motivation to initiate the process of change rather than using the results of the new policies to get people to line up behind the programs. If the company seeks to make any long-term gain in their environmental health and safety rankings, they need to focus on the actual residents who live in the polluted areas. It is therefore advisable for you to put some brakes on their media campaigns and put all their efforts behind improving the welfare of the residents of Birmingham by exercising environment consciousness. Fortunately, changing your waste disposal strategies will also work to reduce losses.

As the company's management, you risk losing a lot of money in fines and compensations if found guilty of violating environmental rules. A news article by Smith indicates that McWayne employees who were acting under strict instructions from the management disposed of millions of gallons of potentially harmful material secretly in Avondale Creek in a period that exceeds one year (Smith par.1). Such an act is delicate for the residents of Birmingham to overlook. By taking part in such activities, the company are showing the residents that you don't care about their welfare. Jere, from Beasley Allen, indicates that the company is prepared to conduct a series of community projects in an attempt to win over the residents of Birmingham while simultaneously fulfilling its punishment (par. 2). As noble as the gesture seems, it is unwarranted because the company could avoid all the penalties and negative publicity by stopping its dumping in the Village Creek. The recent efforts to win over the residents such as McWayne Science center is only a short-term solution. The residents will get excited about the new projects and facilities, but unless the company stops its risky environmental practices, the residents will always regain their hostility towards the company. You as the owners and management of the company are set to lose the most from a lawsuit or a worse scenario such as company bankruptcy. The court will punish you as people in charge of the company rather than the junior employees. In one of the cases that involve McWayne, the U.S Attorney said," This verdict sends a clear message the corporate defendants, as well as individuals, will be held accountable for their criminal conduct in violating the Clean Water Act," (Associated Press par. 3). Therefore as the management, you need to consider your options and determine whether your actions serve their best interests and that of the community around them. However, despite these obvious reasons to stop the reckless dumping, there is still opposition to it.

Counter-Arguments

The first counter-argument is that it is unreasonable to imagine that the company can go beyond the law requirements. According to the company lawyers, "the company and the men did their best to modernize and upgrade the ageing plant by spending millions to make sure it was environmentally sound," (Walton par. 21). That means that the company does not owe the government or members of the public anything. There is no legal requirement for us to go the extra mile to ensure that their systems are more advanced than they already are. The company is a business entity, and it is supposed to act and operate to the best of its ability to make profits provided; it does not violate the law. Also, there is the Supreme Court decision that made our actions technically legal (Kray, 715). Therefore, the company is under no obligation to go beyond its legal requirement. The argument you have presented is quite convincing but lacking in its legal merits.

Also, we have noticed that you are stuck in the past and holding it against the company. There is no doubt that McWayne has had a rough history and frequent altercations with the law. However, that does not necessarily dictate our future. The argument you have presented cites evidence that we have worked to make reforms to our operations. The problem with your argument is that it assumes the changes should target the residents of Birmingham. Each reform that the company has initiated as part of environmental conservation is meant to steer the company to a particular direction of increased profits. As it stands, the company is making more money from its mode of doing business than using your proposed style of doing business. We as a company are a business, and the only way to remain in operations is by continuing to operate under profit. We are already having a difficult time keeping the plant open ("McWane Idles Birmingham Cast Iron Pipe Plant" par. 1-4). Any additional reforms would require additional investment on our part. Investors and stakeholders such as yourself would not be happy to see profits dwindle. The quality of our operations are indeed questionable, and history can verify that. Nevertheless, an essential resource that we provide to the people of Birmingham is jobs. If we close down, stakeholders such as yourself have more to lose in terms of earning an income (Kray par. 1-2).

Works Cited

"McWane Idles Birmingham Cast Iron Pipe Plant." Foundry Management & Technology, 4 May 2012, www.foundrymag.com/meltpour/mcwane-idles-birmingham-cast-iron-pipe-plant.

"McWane, Three Executives Convicted in Pollution Case." Edited by Associated Press, Tuscaloosa News, Tuscaloosa News, 11 June 2005, www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/20050611/mcwane-three-executives-convicted-in-pollution-case.

Barstow, David, and Lowell Bergman. "A Family's Fortune, a Legacy of Blood and Tears." The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Jan. 2003, www.nytimes.com/2003/01/09/us/a-family-s-fortune-a-legacy-of-blood-and-tears.html.

Beasley, Jere. "McWane Executives Are Fined and Get Probation." Beasley Allen Law Firm, 13 Jan. 2006, www.beasleyallen.com/news/mcwane-executives-are-fined-and-get-probation/.

Kray, Jeff. "Post-Rapanos Courts Setting High Evidentiary Bar for Clean Water Act Jurisdiction." Post-Rapanos Courts Setting High Evidentiary Bar for Clean Water Act Jurisdiction | Marten Law, 19 Dec. 2007, www.martenlaw.com/newsletter/20071219-cwa-jurisdiction.

Smith, Sandy. "McWane, Employees, Indicted for Environmental Crimes." EHS Today, 27 May 2004, www.ehstoday.com/news/ehs_imp_37016.

Walton, Val, and Birmingham News. "New Trial Ordered for McWane." AL.com, 25 Oct. 2007, blog.al.com/spotnews/2007/10/new_trial_ordered_for_mcwane.html.