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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 3 page report discusses the Ashland Oil Company and the collapse of a four million gallon storage tank at its Floreffe terminal near Pittsburgh in 1988. Millions of gallons of diesel fuel were spilled into adjoining properties, wetlands, and the river. Legal and ethical issues are outlined and tied to legal principles and ethical duties. The report is based on a 1990 Harvard Business School case titled "Trouble at Floreffe." Bibliography lists only the primary source.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_BWashlnd.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
entire amount of fuel surged over containment dikes and into surround properties. It was the worst pollution accident in the history of the 64-year old Ashland Oil Company (the 60th
largest company in the U.S. and the largest independent oil refiner). The spill reached well beyond Ashland property and onto the nearby highway, surrounding wetlands, and adjoining properties. Approximately 700,000
gallons went down a storm sewer and flowed, undetected, into the Monongahela River. Clean up efforts began at approximately 9:00 p.m. and continued for the next three days. Ashland Oil
employees were involved, as were the Coast Guard, a professional "haz-mat" clean up company, local emergency forces, the Red Cross, and the Audubon Society.
Clean up was hampered by sub zero temperatures, swift-moving currents of the river, darkness, and the lack of electrical power. A company official had visually inspected the dock
area where the oil had been pumped from and determined that it had not spilled into the river. However, it was actually pouring into the river at the rate of
250 gallons a minute from the storm drain. Two hours later the truth was learned. Surrounding areas were evacuated for 12 hours until the leaks had been plugged. A crisis
management team was formed at the company headquarters in Ashland, Kentucky, and plans made to take two corporate jets and the team to Floreffe on the morning of January 5th,
three days after the spill. The oil slick on the river was over 30 miles long and moved down river at 10-20 miles
per hour. Domestic water supplies were assumed to be safe since river intakes are at 16 to 20 feet below the surface. However, officials downriver at the Pennsylvania Water Company
...