Mercury Spills
...cleanup of the mercury. Also, the companies spent money on the reimbursement for any inconveniences those affected experienced such as costs for traveling for medical assistance in the Newmont case, and costs for temporary housing for those who had to evacuate their homes in the Nicor situation. On top of costs of cleanup and reimbursement, each company faced environmental fines. Also, the companies faced lawsuits as result of the mercury spills. The people who were affected by the mercury spills in each situation were very distrustful of the companies involved. Peru’s indigenous population, which lives largely where Newmont operates, bears a historical grudge against the company and others like it because these companies have contaminated rivers and habitats and ruined cultural traditions. Those people in suburban Chicago who were affected by the spill say that they do not trust Nicor to do the mercury testing in their homes because they were in fact the ones who caused the mercury to be in their homes to begin with. Finally, both the Nicor and the Newmont situations are similar in that the mercury spills did not directly affect either company’s stock value. There are many differences between the Nicor and Newmont spills. First, the Newmont spill occured in the poor villages of Peru, while the Nicor spill occurred in suburban Chicago. Newmont was a gold mining company while Nicor was a gas company. In the Newmont case, 330 pounds of mercury was spilled on a 25-mile stretch of road. The amount mercury that was spilled in the Nicor case was only about one to two teaspoons per home. The people in Peru who were affected by Newmont’s mercury spill have claimed to have suffered from rashes, blindness, neurological problems and possibly birth defects from the mercury. The spill initially sent as many as 100 villagers to seek emergency medical treatment. There were no known health problems experienced by those whose homes were contaminated by Nicor’s mercury spill. Newmont tried to conceal the true hazard to human health and safety of the spilled mercury. Nicor’s president, Tom Fisher announced that the company has accepted responsibility for the mercury spill in the homes of suburban Chicago. The company has done mercury tests in all the homes that had the gas meters inside. The CEO of Newmont, Wayne Murdy, has said of the mercury spill in Peru that it’s “been completely blown out of proportion.” Newmont now faces a major lawsuit filed by the citizens of the Peruvian villages affected by the spill. These similarities and differences associated with the Newmont and Nicor mercury spills reveal several insights. First, I got from the comparisons that mercury spills are definitely not something that can be ignored. In both cases millions of dollars were spent to cleanup the spills. Although both companies were quick to say that there should not be any serious health risks as result of the spills, mercury obviously has some major risks associated ...