Illegal Dumping at the Black Mountain Industrial Complex: An Opportunity Perspective

• In Event: Posters II

Abstract

Over the years, environmental concerns have increased the legislative capabilities of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to impose regulatory, and sometimes criminal sanctions on businesses who are in violation of environmental law. One facility in the Nevada desert, Black Mountain Industrial Complex, recently received the largest single site fine amount in the EPA history. Two separate companies have been involved in dumping toxic chemicals into nearby collection ponds, and landfills, releasing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), ammonium perchlorate, and titanium dioxide particles into the environment. This paper will investigate the opportunity structure of illegal dumping at the Black Mountain Industrial Complex, and how future policy can deter illegal dumping of toxic waste by manipulating this opportunity structure.

Author

• Andrew M. Gilchrist, University of Cincinnati