Article
[audio] When an Environmental Accident Becomes a Crime
Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice announced civil suits against BP and other companies associated with the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico…Many advocates say that environmental disasters like the BP spill and the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster are clearly crimes and that senior corporate officials should face felony charges and time in prison…How should we hold corporations accountable for environmental violations?...We begin with David Uhlmann,…a director of environmental law and policy program at the University of Michigan Law School…Joining us…to share a defense attorney's perspective on the environmental crime is Warren Hamel, co-chair of the SEC and White Collar Defense Practice Group at Venable LLP…[L]et's bring another voice into the conversation, David Guest, he heads the Florida office of Earth Justice, a national nonprofit environmental law firm. [also refers to Halliburton, Pfizer, Transocean]