Week 6 Checkpoint - Grade: A PDF

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Kardell Paper Company essay regarding sonox...

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Dear Ladies & Gentleman of the Board of the Kardell Paper Company, I represent the citizens and the City of Riverside. As you no doubt are aware from previous discussions and meetings, there is a potential threat to the profitability and sustainability of the Company. The facts: higher than normal levels of sonox have been recorded in the river near the plant. Proposals and possible solutions have been discussed, many of which are expensive to everyone involved. So far there is no definite proof that sonox is causing health problems, but there are possible links. The groups involved are those employed by Kardell, the townspeople of Riverside (many of whom are also employees), the shareholders, and legal counsel. As we are well aware, the cost to retrofit the plant is estimated at $70 million and the reduction or closure of the plant during retrofit would affect the employees and the shareholders most directly. The town would also suffer. If we rank the stakeholders involved in this dilemma, who has the highest ranking? The shareholders and their profit? The employees and their jobs? The townspeople/employees and their health? I think the townspeople/employees and their health. After all, you can replace a stock certificate, you can replace a job, but can we replace our health? The high incidence of miscarriages and respiratory illnesses are serious health hazards possibly linked to sonox created by this plant. This is the most important issue. We have a duty to do no harm to our neighbors. If the sonox is determined to be the source of health problems, we have no choice but to seek an alternate bleaching process that does not produce sonox or retrofit the plant. The liability of the health problems could easily cost more than the retrofit, the lost wages, and profit to shareholders. The impact to retrofit the plant is significant to all. But what is the cost of not doing so? Our health is irreplaceable. I urge you, the Board, to consider that this is not a problem to put aside until you are mandated to correct it. Many more people could be seriously harmed in the mean time. An independent firm should be hired to determine if the sonox is the cause of the

health problems. It may be that a certain level could be tolerated into the water, but at a certain level it becomes toxic. We must find a research firm that can make a determination before the government gets around to it. The cost to retrofit is astronomical and the costs to shut down or slow down are huge. The investment in an independent determination may well be worth it. If this is the case, then the sonox process should be stopped and an alternate method of bleaching used. If that is not possible, then the costs to retrofit have become justified. Even if it's extremely costly to retrofit the plant, the possible and highly probable legal costs of defending the chemical production could be much higher....