Sustainability of Law

By:Abigail Eastman

Justice isn't Sustainable. As it stands today, our Criminal Justice System spits in the face
of Sustainability. Environmental Law is lacking because major corporations throw money at
regulations so people will look the other way. We need to work towards a viable solution and
bring Justice into the Modern Era and away from corruption. Should we let corporations keep
harming valuable ecosystems to make a quick buck? No. So we need to reform Environmental
Law.
At all levels, the Justice System is flawed. Legislators and Environmental Protection
Agencies put years of work into putting regulations to protect the environment in place and then
major corporations swoop in and spit on the work they did because they see it as more cost
effective to pay the fines that will be imposed upon them for violating regulations such as
dumping chemicals in rivers or filling in wetlands.
Duke Energy damaged various ecosystems in and around the Dan River by making the
water toxic for the various species through the dumping of coal ash laced with several metals.
The spill occurred in 2014 and a settlement and mass clean up wasn’t decided on until 2019.
Duke doesn't plan to foot the whole bill either. This was a textbook case of where corporations
mess up and miraculously find a way to make more money and get good PR without actually
accounting for and learning from their mistakes.
If we get even closer to home, we can identify flaws in how environmental issues are
handled in Boone. We live in the mountains, so every winter it is bound to snow and the City of
Boone is very quick to plow and salt the roads, which is very convenient to those who live and
drive around Boone. Yet, the downside of all the salt, besides corroding our cars, is that when the
snow melts or when it rains the salt ends up draining into the major waterways in Boone and
killing off the fish in the ecosystems. The City of Boone has been trying to deal with the issue
before the salinity of waterways gets too high and organisms native to the habitats start dying
off. There are methods of salting the roads with environmentally friendly materials so we can
still get around and not kill the fish. The City of Boone has been experimenting with mixing the
salt brine with beet juice as an alternative measure as to not wreck the habitats. However, Boone
is not a wealthy little town so what they can do is very limited. Many people live below the
poverty line. So, while we can hope they would invest more into more environmentally friendly
salting methods that would pay off in the long term and not harm organisms in these habitats,
they are more likely to spend less money on a band-aid fix so their money can be focused on
more community based support.
As we have seen with the Duke Energy case and with countless other big corporations,
regulations are broken and money is thrown at the problem. It is a trend in America that those
with the most money and power are the ones who can get away with the worst crimes. If we
can’t crack down on corporations when they break the rules and penalize them for harming the
environment, then how can we even look at the system as anything but corrupt? The Justice
System is not sustainable in the fact that we let those with money and power break the rules and
take what they want without much penalization for their actions. People with power and money
push down everyone else and give them no chances to pull themselves back up again. This
happens at all levels of the system and it is a culture that is unsustainable and not feasible for the
future we need. How Environmental Law is looked at by corporations is abysmal and we need to
take away their power in the courts so we can have a fair system. At all levels, the system is
broken. There is no justice for the various ecosystems we bulldoze over and all the animals we
drive to extinction. Other countries can build systems that are more efficient with little to no
corruption, so why can’t we? Our system is so broken that we can’t even protect our rivers from
the corruption that lies within it. We need to bring the fight closer to home. Without the river
habitats, Boone will be lost. We can all rally to provide more funding for new icing methods so
we may save the fish. Save your home and take the fight to Boone.

Sources

“Dan River Coal Ash Spill.” Columbia Environmental Research Center, U.S. Department of the
Interior, https://www.cerc.usgs.gov/orda_docs/CaseDetails?ID=984

Taris, Josie, and Frank Stasio. “Duke Energy And NC Reach A Settlement Over Nearly 80
Million Tons Of Coal Ash.” WUNC, 7 Jan. 2020, https://www.wunc.org/post/duke-energy-and-
nc-reach-settlement-over-nearly-80-million-tons-coal-ash

Weir, Luke. “Studies: Road Salt Use Impacts Local Waterways.” Watauga Democrat, 1 Mar.
2019, https://www.wataugademocrat.com/news/studies-road-salt-use-impacts-local-
waterways/article_de2d62af-ec03-5212-a976-7fe3b6abbbda.html