I had an idea when I was younger to use this type of investigative activism as a way to short publicly traded companies and fund an ever-increasing amount of pollution investigation. Unfortunately massive pollution scandals barely dent share prices since enforcement is so lax and slow, and many of the worst offenders have closed shop after pillaging the land. A shame since it's not in the 'public' interest to bring this stuff to light since governments have to pay to clean it up.
What an interesting idea! Seems like the only way to have any impact is to upset shareholders.
I've been working on trying to highlight the issue in Gary/Northwest Indiana by trying to be a "citizen sleuth" by tracking air pollution and open sourcing the data. Still a WIP, but recently added gas tracking to the data too https://millerbeach.community
You're right about worst offenders closing shop after pillaging, or they just sell and move on to the next location.
In 2019 ArcelorMittal spilled cyanide and ammonia into a Lake Michigan tributary, closing the National Park, local water intake, killing 3000 fish, etc.
In December 2020, ArcelorMittal was bought by Cleveland-Cliffs for $1.4 billion.
> The proposed consent decree requires Cleveland-Cliffs to complete "comprehensive operational upgrades to the steel mill to prevent future cyanide and ammonia violations," the environmental groups said."
> The steelmaker agreed to improve its notification procedures and pay $3 million in civil penalties, which are to be split between Indiana and the U.S. Treasury.
$3 million, and to prevent future cyanide/ammonia violations... but still dump into Lake Michigan. Aren't we lucky!
Yeah I'm aware they do, but it's outdated, inaccessible, and lacking, which is why I guess I want to do a better job at it, and ideally host many more sensors.
I live on the southern shoreline of Lake Michigan, the rest of Gary, Whiting, Hammond is directly south of the Gary Works, BP, etc. There should be way more hyper-localised air quality monitoring, 1-2 isn't enough, the air I breathe, isn't what school kids in Gary/Whiting breathe.
That's a cool website. Thanks for putting it together. I plug my nose every time I drive through NWI. And I have seen oil slicks on the water as far away as New Buffalo, Union Pier, etc
Hey, thank you! Just doing my civic duty to better my lil community! NWI gets a bad rap, the smell/pollution is always mentioned, and is what drives a lot of people away. Who knows how much revenue is lost because of the smell. However, the natural beauty is outstanding, even in Gary, so many cool ecosystems, not to mention the best Great Lake! The more visitors, the more tax revenue, it’s a win/win!
If you found a Volkswagen type thing, then sure. The problem is that it needs to be an utterly massive discovery to move the price of a company that probably has 100 factories.
