Andrew Marsh has recently taken a job as chief engineer at Majestic Lake Chemical, Inc. (Majestic). Majestic operates its main manufacturing plant on the shores of Majestic Lake near the town of Wintown. Recently, Andrew has discovered that the effluent flowing from the plant contains enough mercury to violate the rules of the US Environmental Protection Agency. Mercury can be released directly into water through wastewater and industrial discharges. After some discrete questions, he has determined that the mercury is critical to the production process used at Majestic for several of its most profitable products. Moreover, these levels of mercury have been dumped into the lake for the last 10 years, despite annual inspections by EPA official Alex Wally. Mr. Wally is a close friend of Majestic President, Larry Mann, and Andrew has heard that they often golf together at the local country club. Majestic Lake is home to a substantial boating and fishing industry. The industry has done very well in the last 10 years. In fact, the Wintown Weekly recently published an article reporting that a decade of water testing in the Majestic Lake reveals that the water has been excellent for that period and that the local fish population has been growing. Andrew is concerned. He knows that there is scientific evidence that mercury in sufficient concentrations can accumulate in fish body tissue potentially making them unsafe for humans to consume. He also knows that if he reports the problem to the EPA, then very large fines are likely. He has even heard that Majestic President, Larry Mann, is likely to move the plant to a lake in Mexico where environmental regulations are less strict if faced with fines of this sort.

What should Andrew do? Use the ethical approaches developed in Gateway to help Andrew make an ethical decision.

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Andrew Marsh finds himself in a challenging ethical dilemma with significant consequences for both the environment and public health To navigate this ... View the full answer