The report states that Campbell’s admitted to violating the Clean Water Act at least 5,400 times between April 2018 and December 2024, with the incidents occurring at the canning factory located in Napoleon, Ohio.

“Campbell’s admission that it committed these violations will speed this case toward a trial that will decide what steps the company must take to curb its pollution and how large a civil penalty should be imposed. That’s great news for the people who live along the Maumee River and Lake Erie, who want prompt action on reducing sources of the toxic algae in their local waters,” said John Rumpler, Clean Water Program Director for Environment Ohio. “We appreciate Campbell’s willingness to work cooperatively with us and the federal government to solve its compliance problems, rather than spending time and effort contesting clear-cut violations of the Clean Water Act.”

  • survirtual@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Let’s clarify some things:

    • This is criminal, not civil. The board of directors and executive leadership should be held criminally liable.
    • polluting waters directly leads to suffering and death on a mass scale. It would not an exaggeration to compare it to a weapon of mass destruction.
    • the board of directors and executive leadership are, therefore, mass murderers and should be prosecuted as such.
    • the business should be dissolved and sold off. Major shareholders should be on the hook to repair all the damage done by the company.

    Until we all start internalizing this way of thinking, nothing will ever change. Fines will not fix anything. The corporate shield is a lie. When your company kills people at this scale, your liability shielding is irrelevant.

    • arrow74@lemmy.zip
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      2 days ago

      You know in a world where our government is throwing around “terrorism” accusations poisoning a large water supply seems pretty terroristic to me

      • survirtual@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Our government? It certainly isn’t my government. I am one of those fools who actually believe in the bill of rights, in human decency, in preserving our lands for the future, in that all (hu)mens are created equal, and in the decent treatment of all life as our technology allows.

        This corporate fascist government is not my government. My government believes in human compassion & dignity, love as the basis of leadership, care as the basis of policy, and defense of true freedom as a basis of force.

        Government should maximize our ability to enjoy life, liberty, and happiness. It should simplify our life, not consume it. It should enrich us, not drain us. It should serve us, not enslave us.

        No, what we have is not “our government”. It is the same demon which time and time again rises within the collective hearts of man.

        The leaders of government today are pedophiles and mass murderers who worship greed & ignorance. They are avatars of the greatest evils found in every sacred tradition. Whether you are Christian, Hindu, Atheist grounded in the pursuit of physical mastery, or anything in between, if you have any thirst for truth, you can recognize what they are.

        Calling them terrorists is a disservice. Terrorists are at least principled. Their objective is causing terror to bring attention toward some cause.

        The objective of these “leaders” is to enrich themselves and maximize their own pleasures at the cost of this entire planet. They will lie, cheat, steal, rape, kill, and consume anything they wish. They do not see humanity, all they see is power, all they recognize is strength. They are predators. You cannot speak to the heart of a predator, your only option is to overpower it.

        So there are some old names for what they are:

        Demon. Great Evil. Mara. Shayṭān. Ahriman. The Devil.

        Call me old fashioned, but I personally prefer calling them what they actually are. Those who have an aversion to spiritual terms due to the trauma of their malpractice, or the rejection of them for whatever surely valid reason, consider this:

        These words are not for describing a specific being, but a pattern of thought that dwells within the hearts of man. The thought has names that have been twisted into something separate, but they are a part of each of us, and we have a choice on whether or not to follow it. This pattern has the following shape:

        • pursuit of greed
        • maximizing selfishness
        • spreading ignorance
        • personal pleasure at any cost
        • selective, opportunistic compassion
        • egomania
        • seeing others as lesser

        Ignorance and greed are the chief characteristics of this pattern of thought.

        A bit long winded, but long story short, my government dwells primarily in the spirits of the land now. What “people” have right now is the government of demons. It is their government, not mine :)

        • arrow74@lemmy.zip
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          1 day ago

          Yes our government is fundamentally flawed, corrupt and broken. But until we the people change that we are under their control. You can try to separate yourself from it but that’s unproductive at best and at worst you start diving into that sovereign citizen insanity.

          We can’t really deny if you live in the country, follow its laws, and pay its taxes that it’s not your government. It may not represent you, but it does have authority over you and your home.

          It’s fucked up. But here we are

          • survirtual@lemmy.world
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            21 hours ago

            We are not under their control.

            “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”

    • yoyoyopo5@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I’m starting to believe now that the majority of people would be more upset about not having their Campbell’s soup than their waterways being polluted.

    • Cassanderer@thelemmy.club
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      1 day ago

      This is small potatoes. Idk if any person even died from this, but they sure have from dow, dupont, chemours, monsanto, syngenta, oil and gas up and down supply chain, big ag, etc.

      They are untouchable in courts somehow.

      • survirtual@lemmy.world
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        21 hours ago

        If they are untouchable in the courts, then our courts have failed us. What should the people do once their justice is not being carried out?