Gold King Mine Spill Case Study

For the case study provided with this Assessment Task, you are required to review risk management processes and determine scope and objectives, taking into account stakeholder input and both internal and external environmental factors affecting the organisation. With the information gathered, you are

4.3: To carry out a risk assessment first of all you need to identify the hazards, then decide who might be harmed and how. Then evaluate the risks and decide on precaution and then record your findings and implement on them. After this is done review your assessment and update if necessary.

Although drinking water is not yet known to have been affected, the groundwater was contaminated with volatile organic compounds and heavy metals (5). Both of these types of contaminants have been linked with one or several of the following: cancer, liver, kidney, and nervous system problems (4). In July 1979, the State Court required that all material be removed from the site by July 1980 (5). The state has spent over $300,000 cleaning this site (5). According to EPA standards, this site is in the "construction completed" stage of clean up. This does not mean, however that actual cleanup is complete because groundwater may need to be treated more than 30 years before contaminants are at accepted levels (5).

One of the major drawbacks with fracking is due to the cause of widespread hazardous pollution within waterways surrounding the sites. The steel casings cannot guarantee prevention of chemical leakage dispersing into the adjacent soil holding tons of ground water. This is the same water that makes its way into our wells, and finally into our mouths. Furthermore, more than half of the wastewater used in the fracking process is flowed directly into a ready-made reservoir pits that sit in wait for evaporation. This wastewater gradually sinks into the ground, for the evaporation takes quite some time. The health risks posed by this dangerously hazardous output of pollution into our drinking water and nearby waterways is widely felt. Water quickly turns to metallic mush, goes black, and even becomes flammable in other cases. Fracking is upsetting the way of life for so many out there and yet they still refuse to answer for these wrongdoings. Mike Markham is forced to venture into town to buy his water supply due to his well water being deemed unfit for consumption (“GasLand”). Jeff and Wranda Locker’s washer was flooded with black water not soon after a fracking site began drilling. They placed faith in the energy company when they supplied them with a reverse osmosis water treatment system that was supposed to filter out the chemicals. However, later they found out that the system didn’t remove glycol ethers which damages brain cells and may well be the cause of Wranda’s fading

Economists are often asked to prepare reports with objective analyses balancing the cost and potential damage to the water sources against economic benefits to the local and national communities. These requests for analysis can provide interesting ethical questions for those

After some 3 million gallons of toxic mine water spilled into this big, western river, the economic costs are being tallied by farmers, fly fishing shops, and bankers. Politicians are pointing fingers at each other. It is no accident that federal and Colorado officials have tried to put the best face on disaster. The former actually triggered the incident and the latter have a tourist season to save.

The second step is to determine if the risk are from human nature or from natural causes, if they are from human nature it is important to find out if there are any ways to eliminate or at least mitigate the risk and if the company can do it what would be the cost.

The final factor that led to the great success of the PWP dealt with risk management. The team used early risk identification and mitigation to minimize the effects of any possible risks. The risk management process also provided assurance to Aurora Water that risks were properly evaluated and could be contained from a financial standpoint. A formal risk management plan was developed in early 2007, with a focus on controlling the project cost. The risk analysis process provided an extra benefit to the PMT by highlighting the need to manage project risks such as environmental mishaps to avoid actions that would trigger regulatory enforcement action. A proper risk analysis reduced cost increases due to change orders and avoided permitting and land acquisition delays.

Workers accidentally destroyed the dam holding back the pond, spilling 3,000,000 US gallons (11 ML) of polluted mine waste water and tailings, including heavy metals such as cadmium and lead, and other elements, such as arsenic,[3] into Cement Creek, a tributary of the Animas River in Colorado.[4] The EPA was criticized for not warning Colorado and New Mexico until the day after the waste

Though all resource conflicts are unique in their perspective outcomes, actors, histories, and cultures, the Klamath Basin has been titled the ‘poster child of western water conflict because the struggles of its communities are indicative of those experienced by many west of the Rocky Mountains. The media attention and emblematic character of the Klamath “Water Wars” and the subsequent collaborative stakeholder processes make it an attractive topic of academic study. Recently published work by Berry, Horagic, and Wall(2016) investigate what factors determined stakeholder participation in collaborative management in the Klamath River Basin(KRB). Their findings suggest a range of variables play a central role in determining participation,

Tropical Cyclone Steve has dumped so much rain in the northwest, which makes the Gascoyne River has broken its banks and tens of thousands of tons of rich red topsoil has been washed out to the sea. This has made their soil and their crops as well as irrigation lines and the year’s profits have washed away from the growers, which causing them to have huge losses that cost millions of dollars. After that, the growers are back in their business again and then they formed a group named as Gascoyne Gold.

The 2008 documentary “Blue Gold: World Water Wars” introduced the world to one of the most significant environmental concerns of the modern era. Directed by Sam Bozzo, this film brings to life the compelling story told by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke in their 2002 international bestseller Blue Gold: The Battle against Corporate Theft of the World’s Water. It was first screened at the 2008 Vancouver International Film Festival where it won the audience award for Best Environmental Film. This film’s main message is that water is no longer a fundamental human right, but a privilege awarded only to those with the means to access it. Through its cinematic elements, “Blue Gold: World Water Wars” succeeds in conveying its main argument, which is that if nothing is done about water scarcity now, the wars of the future will be fought not over oil, but water.

Economic relations and resource management, 2. Ideology and culture including the way people think about the environment and water rights, 3.political agents like the state, transnational actors and organizations involved in water disputes and trade 4.the transnational social movements which endorse and resist water privatization, and 5.the power relations which engender unequal access to safe water (Bywater, 2008).

The political ecology try to insists on and traces the fundamentally socially produces character (Heynen et al., 2006). Here the intervention of organization could be disturbs by political character. So the social character of water resource management or organization need to be teased out and clarified.

In April 20th, 2010 one of the worst environmental natural disasters that were brought on by a men happened. We are talking about the British petroleum Oil spill on the Golf Coast. The disaster not only affected the plants, animals and people living in the area but also the image of the company. British Petroleum has been successful on creating a powerful brand image, being authentic to the core values of its business and building the goodwill of their customers, now BP is trying to save what is left after the disaster. The disaster leads to many angry people, including environmentalists,