Question

You worked this past summer at a furniture manufacturing plant. Among the products used in making chairs and couches are glues, paint thinners, varnishes, and stains. Residuals of these products were discharged by the company through a pipe into a nearby pond. The pond is a tributary of a lake popular with boaters and people who like to fish. Now that you are back at school, you read in the paper that the company has pled guilty to the crime of knowingly discharging industrial pollutants into the waters of the united states, a violation of the clean water act. You wonder what consequences will result. What are the various penalties that can be imposed by the judge on the furniture company for its violation of the clean water act? include all that apply.

Answer 1

The furniture company guilty of discharging pollutants could face fines, criminal charges, remedial actions, operational injunctions, and must account for social costs as penalties under the Clean Water Act.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Clean Water Act imposes penalties on entities that unlawfully discharge pollutants into the waters of the United States. The furniture company in question pleaded guilty to discharging industrial pollutants and could face several consequences as a result.

Potential penalties include:

• Hefty fines that can run into tens of thousands of dollars per day for each violation.
• The requirement to take remedial actions to clean up the pollution and prevent future occurrences. This may involve investing in wastewater treatment facilities or other pollution-control technologies.
• Criminal charges could be brought against responsible individuals within the company, leading to prison sentences.
• Issuance of an injunction to cease operations until compliance is achieved.
• The possibility of additional state or local penalties if the state's own environmental protection laws were violated.

Command-and-control regulation also requires firms to consider the social costs of pollution when deciding on their output levels, which may involve the installation of equipment that reduces pollution.