Walmart fined $110 million for dumping toxic chemicals in California

reply to post by Hopechest


What I personally would want as punishment

50% of profits in this year + on probation (if caught again 75% profits next 2 years)

+ criminal sentence with real jail time. Not very long, but around 5 years for people who gave the orders, however highly they are ranked in the Walmart hierarchy.

For such actions, 110 million is not enough. The chemicals might have caused damage for a long time. It just creates a point that anybody can waste and dump chemicals as far as they pay enough for it.

The punishment should set an example. For a company with 15,7 billion profit (2012), such an amount is nearly nothing and it will show that such actions are tolerable as long as one pays for them financially.

Such actions are not tolerable.

Today's "money" is just numbers.

The Earth is what is really paying the price here.

I am always curious what happens with the fine money? Wal-mart pays California $110m, and then what? It disappears?

How will this pollution be removed and cleaned? Will it affect any water sources? What is the real damage to the Earth and what will Wal-Mart do to rectify the situation? Pay money?

Poor Earth =( It has no money.

reply to post by Philippines


I always assumed it was pooled into some general fund that then gets spent on whatever pork projects get put forward by those who are in charge of it. If any of this money is actually spent to do the actual clean-up it would be most surprising indeed.

If someone has access to the accounting and can show how these funds are going to be allocated and spent I'd be very interested to see it.

These fines are meaningless. They have the veneer of justice being served to quell the outrage of the masses but that's about it.

Originally posted by MrMaybeNot

That is a lot of damn # to be dumping and this $110 million fine is far less then even one days profit for these #ing maggots. Anyone who shops at Wal-Mart is participating in their own destruction and the destruction of the planet.

www.rawstory.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

edit on 29-5-2013 by MrMaybeNot because: (no reason given)

By some estimates that's about 60% of Americans. They have cheap stuff and that's really all that matters. Hate on them all you want. People aren't going to stop shopping there. Its pretty much become the "company store". There are way more than enough folks who can't afford to go anywhere else. That's the way the Waltons like it

My dad worked at Wal-Mart up here in Canada. Metaphorically, one could describe the franchise as post-war American suburbia's lovechild with a convenient store. Wide variety of items, that quaint ol' charm still found in some American suburbs today, all under one roof.

reply to post by boncho


I find myself in a wal-mart less than 5 times a year. I willingly pay more for yarn as well rather than go there. It's just a disgusting cess-pit.

And seriously people, don't buy food there, it might kill you.

I go out of my way to avoid Wal-Mart stores and I have zero problem paying a little more else where....

I agree with a few of the earlier posters. The fine should hurt a company like Wal-mart, $110 million to most is an unattainable figure that's hard to even imagine, but to a company like Wal-mart who's assets and money run in the trillions this is just a slap on the wrist....

BP has already paid over $20 billion for the Gulf coast incident. I understand that the situations aren't exactly the same, but BP paid a HEFTY fine for the mess they created, while Wal-Mart is just paying a little $110 million... Makes you wonder...

Originally posted by Hopechest
reply to post by boncho

 

I really don't understand this hate on Wal-mart.

What bad customer service did you get?

You taking back that ten dollar vegetable steamer you grandma bought you and you had to wait in line for 20 minutes?

Its a fricken grocery store for pete's sake.

The reason why a lot of people hate on Walmart is because they live up to the nickname small town killer. Have ever been to a Walmart? It's more than just a grocery store.

Originally posted by antonia
reply to post by boncho

 

And seriously people, don't buy food there, it might kill you.

I hear people say that often, but aren't many of their brand products sold in just about every other alternative?

What is so different about a name branded WALMART package like OREOS, Kraft CHEESE, canned products like Campbell's soup soup, soda, or any other sealed type container products like Purdue chicken versus the other stores?

Do the new cool/hip grocery stores not carry the same brand canned or package products from the same manufactures?


Even the Mom and pop local grocery stroes carry common name brand products.

Originally posted by Hopechest
reply to post by NiteNGale2

 

Well that's the problem.

The OP gave no alternative and since he called Wal-mart "maggots" I can only assume he would prefer them to go away.

If I am wrong please correct me.

The OP mentioned not shopping at WM. I think the alternative was "not shopping at WM." Some movements that start small tend to grow.

By extension, if enough people (theoretically) stopped shopping at WM, it's influence would wan, it's growth would stunt, and it would dwindle as a mega-corporation.

You do realize that companies *have* in fact gone the way of the dinosaurs?

Of course, I don't see WM going anywhere any time soon. It's far too convenient to far too many people. :/

Originally posted by antonia
reply to post by boncho

 

I find myself in a wal-mart less than 5 times a year. I willingly pay more for yarn as well rather than go there. It's just a disgusting cess-pit.

And seriously people, don't buy food there, it might kill you.

Agreed.

I stopped shopping at that crap cess-pool, too.

When I used to shop at WM, I never bought produce or meat there. The produce was always wilted, bruised, and disgusting—always—and the meat cuts were just horrible, not to mention the fillers added to ground beef and such.

I know people who still shop there and they will not buy produce there either.

Originally posted by Liquesence

Originally posted by Hopechest
reply to post by NiteNGale2

 

Well that's the problem.

The OP gave no alternative and since he called Wal-mart "maggots" I can only assume he would prefer them to go away.

If I am wrong please correct me.

The OP mentioned not shopping at WM. I think the alternative was "not shopping at WM." Some movements that start small tend to grow.

By extension, if enough people (theoretically) stopped shopping at WM, it's influence would wan, it's growth would stunt, and it would dwindle as a mega-corporation.

You do realize that companies *have* in fact gone the way of the dinosaurs?

Of course, I don't see WM going anywhere any time soon. It's far too convenient to far too many people. :/

-Depending on where you are this may be impossible.

I lived in SE KY in a small city and when Wal-mart Supercenter came it essentially killed everything else. When my wife and I moved there, Downtown was dead, everything closed and Wal-Mart expanding... We tried driving to another town to shop at Kroger but the gas/time alone was a killer (30 mins 1 way) and eventually we had to give in.

Moved back to my home City (no Wal-Mart USED to be here) and gues what? Its happening here now only to a lesser extent. Downtown used to thrive with a huge Meat market, bakeries and such- Now they are all gone and the local hardware (100 years old) is near death as well.

Wal-mart is a predatory company, period. but we all know they will never be held accountable in a meaningful way.

A 5 MPH speeding ticket runs me about $175 and spikes my insurance- That is about 1/4 of my weekly wage for going 5mph over the speed limit. Wal-mart can do anything it wants, hire illegals, dump toxins etc...And it will never pay any real cost.

-The money (for the person who asked) goes to the Superfund (or a like program) to hire workers to clean their mess and dispose of the waste- At least in theory (I dont thin k we have Superfund anymore but IDK)

bump

Originally posted by Hopechest
reply to post by NiteNGale2

 

Well that's the problem.

The OP gave no alternative and since he called Wal-mart "maggots" I can only assume he would prefer them to go away.

If I am wrong please correct me.

You're wrong. OP said "Anyone who shops at Wal-Mart is participating in their own destruction and the destruction of the planet." which is a sentence meant to discourage shopping at Wal-Mart. In other words, the obvious alternative is to not shop there....pretty plain as day to me. Nice attempt at a straw man though but straw men very rarely work when it comes to written exchanges as people can read the OP's position and the respondent's claim for comparison.

To the OP: Walmart is a deep problem on many levels both in terms of competition between sellers (Walmart's entry into an area is very frequently associated with the demise of smaller sellers) and impacts on its suppliers. The loss of competition of smaller businesses within the area actually damages the local economy in at least two ways. Smaller businesses actually, when combined, provide more jobs than a single retailer and, with Walmart's track record on wages and more, the replacement of small business jobs with Walmart jobs actually increases reliance on state and federal assistance.

For suppliers, Walmart exercises so much market dominance and power that producers have very little choice but to sell to them. However, Walmart, as the largest public vendor in the world, has so much power that it can actually set its own prices from its vendors/suppliers. That's how it guarantees its low prices and the impacts are felt both in the market as other grocery chains end up paying more for the same products and even large suppliers risk crumbling due to loss of profitability because of the thin line they are allowed to run on. Signing a deal with Walmart is like signing a deal with the Devil. It can be a tremendous boost in revenues but can come with a very high price. Walmart is an example of a monopsony. At least that's how they teach it in Schools of Business Administration. We were taught to tread carefully in regards to Walmart. Not good when you think about it.

reply to post by DarKPenguiN


Oh, I know exactly what you're saying. Too often WM is far too convenient, and it can sometimes be hard to avoid shopping there. How often I need a (non-grocery) item and as I think of local alternative places to get it (that aren't 30 mins away), the place that always pops up as local and having it is: WM. It's a shame, really. I've started shopping at the dollar store for toiletries and cosmetics, buying socks, etc online, etc. And then there's the WM brand of everything (Mainstays). People buy it because it's cheap (cost) but the quality is cheap and terrible. One comes out better spending more for quality and longevity, but it caters to the poor and the cash-strapped.

Another thing that pissed me off about WM that their inventory kept changing. They started to not carry the stuff I used to regularly buy.

Luckily, in my small town we do not have a WM; unfortunately, there is one 10 miles in either direction. Luckily, we have a local grocery that has the best meat around, and it doesn't have fillers or other crap in it, even if the variety of goods is somewhat limited. Now, one larger town next door used to have several grocery stores, too. But when WM came they went out of business: one stop shopping with very low prices sent the others grocers out.

I will, however, drive 20 minutes to Kroger just to not go to WM.

And yes, it's quite predatory. There was also a good Southpark about that several years ago.

I read this a couple days ago from the FBI, but their report said 86 million regardless it happened in every state, and they are a multi billion dollar company, this is like getting a stout "no no" from the government for them admitting to basically poisoning our water supplies in some of these states, just to save a buck.

The fine should be in the billions for this.

You know what's crazy, is if people really understood what goes on behind the scenes, I don't think the picture would be so clear. I guess the people have spoken, and it's very sad.....we tried in CA to vote against Walmart stores...I attended meeting after meeting about the "Walmart Threat".....but even my companies employees, that at one point received excellent benefits due to the union, would look me in the face and say "Hey, it's cheaper, I gotta do what I gotta do" well, ok, now the union is broken, new employees will NEVER be able to support a family again on what used to be "living" wages.....I dropped out of the whole game.....Stupid does what Stupid does....

Originally posted by MrMaybeNot

That is a lot of damn # to be dumping and this $110 million fine is far less then even one days profit for these #ing maggots. Anyone who shops at Wal-Mart is participating in their own destruction and the destruction of the planet.

www.rawstory.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

edit on 29-5-2013 by MrMaybeNot because: (no reason given)

Just because you shop there doesn't make you guilty of dumping hazardous waste. That's a huge leap from buying groceries to going out and dumping chemicles. The people responsible are the people whose jobs it was to properly dispose of the waste. I'm not going to be held accountable for what someone else has done. Their wrong doings are on them.

I guarantee you just about anyone you buy anything from is doing something harmful to the planet. You setting your garbage outside to be collected, ends up in landfills that cause harm to the planet. So that makes you responsible for the planets destruction, if you really want to play that game of tit for tat.

Fines should be proportionate to company earnings...

reply to post by Hopechest


Yes, that's not the only thing wrong they do. Research it. They are a cancer.