Course 317 – Environmental Crimes: Investigating and Developing a Case
Based on this week’s readings and your own research, please discuss the following questions regarding the hypothetical problem that was explained to you at the close of this week’s Lecture Notes.

(1) Identify a number of red flags in this story that relate to the potential environmental crime.
As first responders, what should Sheriff Andy’s immediate responses to the emergency be? In other words, what should he tell Barney? What about other bystanders? What immediate actions should he take?

(3) After the immediate emergency situation is dealt with, how should Sheriff Andy and Deputy Barney go about investigating the case? What advice would you give them? Should they form an ECI team? Why? In this particular case, who do you think should be on the team? Why? What other agencies would you call in to help? What should the different team members do? Why? What kind of plan should the ECI put together? What should the plan include? What kind of sampling issues need to be addressed in the plan? Why are the barrels of particular concern? Why is the choice of laboratory important? What kind of relationship should the ECI have with the lab? Why? What kind of secondary data might be of interest to the ECI in this case?

(4) Do you think the ECI should try and build a criminal case against T.J? Are there some potentially far-reaching implications here–are they worth pursuing? During the investigation, what kinds of objections might Andy encounter from real estate developers in the community who need access to the transfer station to dispose of C&D debris? Might the investigation run into political pressure to let T.J off lightly?

Remember to give reasons for your answers not just conclusions. You may want to cite to your textbook for authority to support your arguments by giving a page and paragraph number. Feel free to use other authority, if you like. Remember to use the proper citation style as outlined in the syllabus.

1. Burns, Lynch, and Stretesky, Chapter 7

2. Course Lecture Notes – Week 5 – https://youtu.be/XzAmkfRGFgc

3. EPA Criminal Enforcement

4. Principles of Environmental Enforcement – Chapter 6

Course 317 – Environmental Crimes: Investigating and Developing a Case
Based on this week’s readings and your own research, please discuss the following questions regarding the hypothetical problem that was explained to you at the close of this week’s Lecture Notes.

(1) Identify a number of red flags in this story that relate to the potential environmental crime.
As first responders, what should Sheriff Andy’s immediate responses to the emergency be? In other words, what should he tell Barney? What about other bystanders? What immediate actions should he take?

(3) After the immediate emergency situation is dealt with, how should Sheriff Andy and Deputy Barney go about investigating the case? What advice would you give them? Should they form an ECI team? Why? In this particular case, who do you think should be on the team? Why? What other agencies would you call in to help? What should the different team members do? Why? What kind of plan should the ECI put together? What should the plan include? What kind of sampling issues need to be addressed in the plan? Why are the barrels of particular concern? Why is the choice of laboratory important? What kind of relationship should the ECI have with the lab? Why? What kind of secondary data might be of interest to the ECI in this case?

(4) Do you think the ECI should try and build a criminal case against T.J? Are there some potentially far-reaching implications here–are they worth pursuing? During the investigation, what kinds of objections might Andy encounter from real estate developers in the community who need access to the transfer station to dispose of C&D debris? Might the investigation run into political pressure to let T.J off lightly?

Remember to give reasons for your answers not just conclusions. You may want to cite to your textbook for authority to support your arguments by giving a page and paragraph number. Feel free to use other authority, if you like. Remember to use the proper citation style as outlined in the syllabus.

1. Burns, Lynch, and Stretesky, Chapter 7

2. Course Lecture Notes – Week 5 – https://youtu.be/XzAmkfRGFgc

3. EPA Criminal Enforcement

4. Principles of Environmental Enforcement – Chapter 6