Sometimes, you read stories like the one below and wonder if the death penalty can be instituted for “Sheer neglect of the property of others and blatant disregard for everyone but yourself” !??!
State police on Monday arrested a father and son accused of causing about 36,000 gallons of crude oil to spill in one of Pennsylvania’s high-quality streams. The oil is fouling Allegheny National Forest’s Chappel Fork creek, a tributary to the Kinzua Reservoir, which drains into the Allegheny River. State Department of Environmental Protection officials said cleanup would take at least two weeks.
The amount of oil “is a lot for any body of water, but especially for a stream of that size,” said Kirk Johnson, director of Friends of Allegheny Wilderness, a nonprofit organization working to get better protection of the forest.
The spill occurred Sunday morning about a mile south of State Route 59 in McKean County.
According to state police, Andrew Horton, 42, of Bradford dropped off his son Christopher Horton, 22, of Bradford in the forest late Saturday or early Sunday. Christopher Horton then opened valves on seven crude oil storage tank batteries owned by Snyder Brothers Inc. of Kittanning, police said. He smashed eight meter boxes valued at $2,000 each and damaged a $500,000 generator, police said. Both men worked for Snyder Brothers, but police did not release a motive. Officials at the oil company could not be reached.
An oil-field worker discovered and reported the spill, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
The Forest Service said the spill polluted four miles of Chappel Fork and nearly two miles of Indian Run. The staff began finding dead fish – trout and shiners – as well as reptiles and amphibians yesterday.
Chappel Fork is a unique creek because wild trout naturally reproduce there, according to the Forest Service.
A dam and several oil-gathering booms were set up along the creek to contain the slick, and the Forest Service said the spill was contained before it reached the reservoir. Clean-up operations are based out of the Bradford Ranger Station on State Route 59.
For five years, Johnson’s group has lobbied lawmakers to protect land from oil and natural gas drilling.
“Friends of Allegheny Wilderness condemns this act of vandalism in the strongest possible terms, no matter who is responsible or why they did it,” Johnson said. “If this was an act of an environmental saboteur thinking he or she was punishing the oil companies, they are wrong. They caused a tremendous environmental mess and they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
I’ve been in management in manufacturing for a number of years (20+). It never fails to astound me how people will purposely do damage to company property or try to break machines because they feel the company did something to them (real or imagined).
Examples are stuffing their clothing in sewer lines to cause the bathrooms to backup. (employee forgot that his name is sewn on the inside of pants and shirts so it wasn’t long before his employment opportunities were enabled).
Other examples, are leaving a water hose dripping outside all night in the dark so people will slip and fall on ice formed overnight coming in the next morning. Bright boy forgot all about the security cameras we have…
So, if I interpret this article correctly, these good-ol-boys figured the company owed them something and they figured releasing that oil would teach someone a lesson…
Dave,
I read you loud & clear. Here’s my punishment for those 2 idiots…
Neither should EVER be permitted to have the following licenses…fishing, hunting, or driving (since they more than likely drove to the site). In addition, IF they are ever caught driving ANY vehicle, they should face a minimum of 6 months in jail (FIRST offense, then doubling every time after) & the same penalty (including loss of driver’s license for a minimum of 1 year & removal of their vehicle plates) should be invoked against the owner of the vehicle, UNLESS the vehicle had been reported as stolen BEFORE the scumbags were caught.
My Dad always said that if the penalty is severe enough, the chances of that person committing the crime again will be much less & they’re likely to learn from their mistakes a whole lot quicker!
Mike
The penalty for their act should be life in prison. The death penalty would be too shift an action. I would rather they think about what they had done for a long long time.
I’m certain that somewhere along the line that Dumb & Dumber’s lawyers will show that these morons are actually “victims” of the abusive management practices of the company. This means they were probably fired for being lazy, stupid or both.
You’re correct. A good a s s whoopin’ goes a long way. We need to bring that back into our schools as well.
Paul my friend I have to disagree with you. The death penalty is to good for them. They should have to reimburse everyone for the damage done now and in the future. For every dollar they can not pay our of pocket, without a loan, they should get 1 year in maximum security prison. Their roomy should be 8 foot 400 pound Bubba who is doing life and is very lonely. I say this not because of the fishing they destroyed but because of the stupidity of their actions. Anyone that stupid does not deserve to have a happy life.
They don’t need killin’. Just but in a nice, little cell and let 'em spend the rest of their lives eating MY cooking. My cooking is so bad that it would have Mikey begging for Spam in a matter of days, maybe hours.
They should be on their hands and knees cleaning that crap, with a small wooden spoon, for as long as it takes to clean the stream, then they should be sentenced to community service, for the rest of their pathetic lives.
Doug
Chain them both to a tree next to the river they ruined and leave them there, if they get thirsty they will have to drink from the river they ruined, and forget about them and let nature take its course…
I agree but they should also have to use a toothbrush to clean the stream and use it afterwards to brush their teeth. Then they should be sentenced to stay in a sand desert for the rest of their lives only supplied with just enough water and (bad tasting) food to survive. Their job should be to shovel sand with a teaspoon into a wheelbarrow until it is full then empty it and start over for eternity…
