At a previous employee, I worked at a beef packing plant on the tannery side overseeing the production of boot and shoe leather. We had several regulators that would make appearances at the plant and conduct testing of storm water runoff, discharge ponds, and other areas to ensure we were in compliance with the Clean Water Act 33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq. (1972). A situation that occurred involved chemicals that was used in the hide tanning process. There was a chemical tank that overflowed and did not have proper containment. The overflow went into the storm water drainage system of the plant which feeds into a retention pond that is treated then released. Due to the regulations in place, the training of personnel, and the safe guards to prevent direct contamination of the city drainage system, I believe these regulations helped the business from paying massive fines and clean up costs. The situation could have been more extreme if there was not regulations to protect the environment in a situation like this. I think most regulations are in place to protect the business as much as the environment but meeting some requirements for the regulations can be a hinderance for the business.

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