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A Call to Action

By Walter James

The following is a guest post from Gary Winston, Assistant State Attorney, Office of the State Attorney, Environmental Crime Unit, Miami, Florida.

In 1993, at the urging of an aggressive, creative prosecutor, the (then) Dade County State Attorney?s Office created one of the nation?s first Environmental Crime Unit, staffed by 2 volunteer prosecutors. Having spearheaded the fight against Amtrak?s repeated dumping of human waste along its north-south track through Florida, an effort that led to the passage of the Florida Litter Law, and intimately familiar with the environmental

degradation confronting the Everglades and Miami River through her work advising the Dade County Grand Jury, Assistant State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle convinced one of the nation?s largest and busiest prosecution offices to move boldly into a relatively unknown area of criminal prosecution ? environmental crimes.

Followed a short time later by the creation of one of this country?s first full-time police department?s Environmental Investigation Unit by our current Mayor and then Director of the Miami Dade County Police Department, Carlos Alvarez, law enforcement, in partnership with federal, state, and local regulatory agencies, works today to investigate and prosecute violations of state laws and county ordinances designed to protect our environment and the health of our citizens. The history of this uncommon union is replete with successes and failures; victories and defeats; disputes and agreements; battles, truces, disappointments, and celebration. But even in the clumsiest of times trying something was still better than doing nothing. Responding to a need, a decade ago two of our more famous and influential citizens ? current State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle and Mayor Carlos Alvarez ? sounded a call to action to protect our community from another insidious threat and changed the face of law enforcement and environmental protection in South Florida.

Now, armed with better tools forged from years of partnership and common experience, with a heightened sense of the danger that confronts us, as science begins to catch up with our fast-paced commerce and technology, it is imperative that all citizens join with police and prosecutors and heed the call to action.

While the world debates global warming and speculates as to the height of a rapidly rising sea, no one argues that water contaminated by industrial or human waste is dangerous and unhealthy. Here in South Florida, dig down two arm-lengths and feel the cool touch of water. Dig a bit deeper and you?ll hit an underground sea. This is but one reason a devoted and talented group of specially-trained police officers patrols your streets investigating and arresting defendants for dumping all sorts of noxious, toxic and dangerous waste on private and public property, illegally operating businesses in our well-field cones of influence, dredging and filling wetlands, unlawfully burying solid waste under new residential construction and in small lakes throughout our community.

Why? Because some of us in law enforcement fear that more people are killed, injured or rendered ill by preventable environmental factors than by all the bullets, knives, sticks and stones used by violent criminals. Why do we worry so? Well, next time you?re in a crowd ask, ?By a show of raised hands, how many of you, or a member of your family, or someone you know well, have been the victim of violent crime?? Then, having counted the few hands that go up, ask the second question, ? Again by a show of raised hands, how many of you, or a member of your family, or someone you know well, have been the victim of cancer, respiratory illness, or other serious illness?? You?ll be astounded at how many more hands are raised for the second question than for the first. Even though, as I concede, there is at present little absolutely certain evidence that most cancers, respiratory illnesses, and any number of other serious ailments are solely caused by environmental factors, who amongst us is prepared to wait anymore for what many think will be proven true in time? Remember when smoking cigarettes was cool; when working in the bowels of ships spraying asbestos was thought safe; when burying barrels of waste was commonplace and considered harmless? Given the dangers and the risk - and the number, history and inevitability of these damning revelations - who dares wait for confirmation of what we already believe in our bones to be true? If in criminal law the system presumes the defendant?s innocence, why in environmental law can?t we presume some harm and act accordingly to protect the victims?

I do not mean by this writing to shut down business or condemn all manner of commerce. The great majority of legitimate businesses are conscientious, in compliance and concerned as much about the health of their employees and neighbors as they are about their profits. Where technology can help, these businesses utilize that technology. But given the possibilities, the long-term threats to us all are potentially so real and so grave that even a hazardous small quantity or scarce number of violations may have dire consequences.

What I do seek, however, is your call to action and the assistance of your eyes and ears. From this moment on, just as you do when the cries of a robbery victim wake you in the night, as the screeching tires of the getaway car speeding away compel you to dial 911, as the smell of smoke prompts you unthinkingly to call for fire fighters, call the police when you suspect the commission of an environmental crime. While others debate the impact of global warming tomorrow, let?s act together to stop what?s harming our community today.

Full post as published by Environmental Crimes Blog on December 22, 2007 (boomark / email).