The EPA has just released its list of "fugitives," people who have been charged with violating environmental laws or regulations.
As the New York Times reports, crimes include smuggling ozone-destroying coolants, building a secret pipeline to funnel pollutants into a tributary of the Mississippi River, and dumping contaminated grain into the ocean.
The idea to release a fugitives list was born after the capture, in Mexico in March 2008, of a man, David A. Phillips, who the agency says walked away from a federal prison in Oregon. The list says that Phillips was serving time in connection with a series of offenses that began with violations of the Clean Water Act.
While I applaud the EPA for tracking down environmental criminals, I wonder when more positive policies will be put into place to regulate business and corporations who have likely committed a few environmental crimes of their own. What do you think?