THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 27, 1996 TAG: 9610250015
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 71 lines
Terry Lynn Rettig, former manager of Smithfield Foods Inc.'s wastewater treatment plants, pleaded guilty this week to 23 counts of dumping pollutants into local waters and lying about it on state reports. Eight of the counts against him involve Smithfield Foods. Rettig, 46, of Virginia Beach, faces a maximum penalty of 54 years in prison and a $5.75 million fine. The crimes were serious.
Also this week, the $3 billion packing company received an ultimatum from the U.S. Justice Department: Pay a $3.5 million fine by Nov. 1 or face a federal civil suit seeking up to $25,000 for each of 5,000 violations of environmental laws, dating back to 1991. That works out to a whopping potential fine of $125 million.
Much is going on here, none of it pretty.
The federal suit is interesting because it can be filed only because the Justice Department and the federal Environmental Protection Agency believe the state Department of Environmental Quality has not done its job enforcing federal water laws.
``The EPA is saying it's time for the state to stop dancing with polluters and start playing hardball,'' said Roy A. Hoagland, staff attorney for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, an 80,000-member, nonprofit environmental advocacy organization, one of the more moderate environmental groups.
If Virginia enforced speed limits the way it enforces environmental laws, Hoagland said, its policy would be, ``We'll pull you over, but we'll never give you a ticket. Just promise you'll never do it again.''
Rettig's guilty pleas to all counts against him will presumably prevent him from exercising his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination if he is subpoenaed to testify in a case against Smithfield Foods. He can't further incriminate himself in a matter he's already pleaded guilty to.
Many questions are hanging.
Was Rettig polluting and lying entirely on his own, while employed by Smithfield Foods?
How will the federal case against Smithfield Foods be settled?
What will happen to the more modest suit that the state earlier filed against Smithfield Foods? Some critics say it was an attempt to protect Smithfield Foods from harsher federal action. Others believe it was an attempt to shore up Virginia Attorney General James S. Gilmore III's environmental reputation. He's a likely Republican candidate for governor.
Regarding Virginia's handling of the Smithfield case, EPA Regional Administrator W. Michael McCabe said, ``They should have brought Smithfield into compliance a long, long time ago. This is such an obvious persistent case of noncompliance. That's what makes it so serious.''
There is at least the appearance of a quid pro quo in this case since Gov. George Allen received substantial campaign contributions from Smithfield Foods and his administration bestowed lax enforcement of environmental laws on the company. However, Smithfield wasn't alone. Lax enforcement has been a consistent policy of the Allen administration.
Which raises a last question: Will the EPA step into more Virginia environmental cases? Hoagland said that wouldn't surprise him, since the EPA believes Virginia is failing to enforce environmental laws diligently. Hoagland said the EPA and environmental groups use Virginia as a national example of lax enforcement.
Conservatives like Governor Allen believe EPA stifles business through over-regulation. But the answer is to change rules, not flout them. Besides, in this case, ideology is at odds with common sense.
Rettig has not been convicted of breaking some obscure and niggling regulation but with gross violations of the environment by repeatedly discharging huge amounts of bacteria-carrying, shellfish-killing, water-polluting hog waste.
Virginians want laws against that kind of behavior enforced. They have no reason to believe the state has done so. The health of our environment will suffer if such laxity continues. Voters will notice. by CNB