Rogers Corporation is a Massachusetts company that manufactures foam products in Connecticut. During the production process, oil dripping from machinery creates hazardous wastes. Rogers collected these wastes underneath the machine and then pumped the oil into drums to sample it for excessive levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), persistent toxic pollutants regulated under environmental laws. From 1988 through 1992, concentrations of PCBs in Rogers’s drums were less than 50 parts per million (ppm), an amount in full compliance with the law.
In April 1993, another sample of the drums indicated PCBs between 50 and 170 ppm, in excess of federal standards. The testing company informed Rogers Corporation of this violation in June, and Rogers shipped the wastes off-site as required by law. In December, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection inspected Rogers’s premises, taking a sample from underneath the machinery. This sample was found to have PCB concentrations of 170 ppm, while the drums had a level of 70 ppm. More samples from the testing company indicated the floor storage area had PCB concentrations of 110 to 140 ppm. The company cleaned this area on March 15, 1994.
1. Do you think Rogers Corporation was in violation of the law?
2. Given that Rogers Corporation was aware of exceeding PCB limitations as early as April 1993, should managers have proceeded more quickly to clean up the area?