Environmental and safety record Bloomberg reports that from 1999 to 2003, Koch Industries was assessed more than $400 million in fines, penalties and judgments.[40] Daniel Indiviglio, in a reaction piece appearing in The Atlantic argues that the Bloomberg article is biased and misleading, asserting that the Bloomberg team only found eight instances of alleged misconduct by a giant multinational over the span of 63 years.[41] In 2000, for its 300 reported oil spills which had taken place across six states, Koch paid the largest civil fine ever imposed on a company under any federal environmental law for the illegal discharge of crude oil and petroleum products. In a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department and the state of Texas, the company agreed to pay a $30 million civil penalty, improve its leak-prevention programs and spend $5 million on environmental projects.[42][43][44][45][46][47] In 1996, an 8-inch-diameter steel LPG pipeline operated by Koch Pipeline Company ruptured near Lively, Texas and began leaking butane gas. The vapor cloud ignited when two residents drove their pickup truck through the flammable vapors to get to a neighbors house to call 9-1-1 to report the leak. The two were killed in the explosion, and approximately 25 families were later evacuated from the neighborhood without injury. An investigation conducted by the NTSB found that the pipe section which failed had not been shown to have excessive corrosion in a 1995 inspection. Regulations at the time did not provide criteria for adequate cathodic protection.[48] Koch also stated that the bacteria-induced corrosion acted quicker than had ever previously been recorded in the industry. The explosion was the only event of its kind in the company’s history. In 1999, a Texas jury found that negligence had led to the rupture of the Koch pipeline and awarded the victims families $296 million - the largest compensatory damages judgment in a wrongful death case against a corporation in U.S. history.[40][49] In 2000, a federal grand jury returned a 97-count indictment against Koch Industries and its individual employees for environmental crimes relating to excess emissions of 85 metric tons of benzene, a known carcinogen.[50][51] In 2001, Koch Industries was fined $20 million, of which $10 million was a criminal fine and $10 million to clean up the environment.[52]
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 14:28:31 +0000
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