Federal judge asks environmentalists for ideas to punish company over mercury spill
Apparently frustrated by a U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down an $18 million penalty for a Houston-based natural gas firm, a federal judge is taking the unusual step of asking the environmental community for suggestions on how to sentence the company in a way that will have “the broadest possible impact.”
U.S. District Judge William Smith in Providence said in a preliminary sentencing memorandum filed April 25 that the high court’s decision means he is limited to fining Southern Union Co. $500,000 or the equivalent in community service, rather than the $6 million fine and $12 million in charitable contributions that he had previously imposed as punishment.
.......
Smith said Southern Union had broken the law for more than two years by illegally storing liquid mercury without a permit inside a neglected building in a densely populated section of Pawtucket. The mercury came from old gas regulators the company was removing from customers’ homes, and was left around in glass jars, a plastic jug and other containers.
In 2004, teenagers broke into the building and dumped mercury there and at a nearby apartment complex, which had to be evacuated. Many residents later were found to have unacceptably high levels of mercury in their blood and showed other symptoms of mercury exposure, such as hair loss and rashes, and about 90 of them later settled a lawsuit over the spill for undisclosed terms. All have recovered.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/05/07/judge-asks-environmentalists-for-ideas-to-punish-company/