Countering Oil Spillages
Abstract
Oil leakages have adverse effects on the natural environment and also pose adverse loses to oil companies, considering the huge investments made in its importation. The Oil Company consequently plays a great role in ensuring the safety of the environment during the transportation of oil and avoiding such losses that could place the stakeholders’ capital at risk. The derailment in oil transportation has therefore brought in many various complications to the social community, the investors and the company itself that need to be dealt with immediately.
Plan of Action to the Impacted Community
The Company plans to take measures to saviour the damages that have already been caused by the oil spillages, to compensate for the damages caused and to initiate strategies that prevent other possible accidents in future.
To the affected community, the company plans to compensate for these losses by using land spill clean-up techniques to reclaim the polluted land. The Company plans to invest such as berms and trenches to drive away from the oil spills, alongside other methods such as bioremediation, sorbents, manual recovery, and in-situ burning, to rid of the oil spilt over the land (Fingas, 2012). The company is very much aware that the oil spillages have detrimental effects on the land, mostly to the agricultural land which is the source of livelihoods to most families. Moreover, the company also fully apprehends that the oil inhibits soil aeration and consequently the death of important soil organism that contribute to the fertility and productivity of the land. The building of trenches and berms will hence help to redirect the oil flows from entering more farms, essential river sources and perhaps prevent leakages into the ground that could interfere with the water table. Other strategies such as burning and manually removing off the top affected soil, bioremediation methods, sorbents and wildlife clean up would help remove the top affected soil. The company also plans to go further to reduce the effects of the oil spillages by using vacuums and skimmers to remove the spilt oil. This involves temporary flooding the affected regions with water to make the oil float then redirecting it in other places. This measures consequently bring more benefits to the affected community through the alleviation of pollution effects and the promotion of environmental sustainability.
The Company also plans to compensate the community for the damages caused by the oil spillages by offering them compensation money for the lost agricultural land and easing their transportation services to reduce input costs. The oil spillages eventually lead to the distraction of plants and crops that are a source of living for some people and therefore the company plans to give them money to find other sources of food as they work on getting rid of the oil spillages. The company is also ready to offer fueling services to the farmers’ modes of produce transportation to reduce the costs they spend on carriage inwards.
Finally, the companies intend to build more pipelines to prevent future oil spillages by rail transportation (Bai, 2017). Using reinforced pipelines make it hard for the oil to spill which therefore puts the communities’ land and environment at a lower risk of pollution. The construction of pipelines will also help in increasing the inflows and outflows of produce through train transportation. Compensation, therefore, helps to bring fairness by allocating the greatest benefits to the most affected communities.
Theories that Explain the Plan of Actions
The strategies taken by the company to reduce the effects caused by pollution can be explained through the consequential based utilitarian/ethical theory (Fok, Payne & Cory, 2016). The theory looks at the usefulness or the benefits of a company’s action to the community. This theory is also known as the ‘greatest happiness’ principle. The focus is placed on the consequences or outcomes of an action. As such, actions of a business entity will be evaluated based on the benefits it brings to the community or the costs that it subjects the same community into. In the present, the community has suffered loses which need to address. The measures taken by the land spill clean-up techniques are adopted by the company because they bring the most benefits to the affected community.
Compensation measures can be explained through the compensation theory. Compensatory justice (Justice and fairness theory) to be followed by compensating people for what they lost (Francoeur, 2017). It is a non-consequentialist theory that focuses on giving the community their rights of getting the initial returns they expected from the land regardless of the oil spillage just being an accident.
The plan to counter any future accidents of the same nature can be explained through the ethics of care theory, which requires an organization to exercise great care towards people whom we have a relationship with (Fotski, Islam & Antoni, 2019). The community forms part of the market that consumes the company’s products, and therefore, to enhance the cohesion for future relationships the company needs to invest in rebuilding the lost trust.
How the plan of action will be perceived by stakeholders
The stakeholders will buy into the actions to be taken by the company because they aim to create a stronger relationship with its customers and a more peaceful workplace. Stakeholders are parties that are affected by the actions of a business entity, such actions may be positive or negative. The stakeholders will look at the moral standard when analyzing the actions of the oil company, through moral reasoning they will judge the actions of the oil company following the relevant moral standard. They will demand moral responsibility from the company. Most stakeholders use ethical absolutism to judge company actions, where the action is wrong regardless of the context will apply (Fotski, Islam & Antoni, 2019). However, setbacks are prone to any company, and it is how the company reacts to the situation that determines the occurrence of such mistakes again. Improved relationships between the company and its customers will mean better returns to the company that will make the investors continue supporting the company even in future. The actions being taken by the company to relieve the damages will, therefore, make the stakeholders invest more in the company.
Implications of the Plan of Action to the Future of the Oil Company
Taking measures to rectify the damages made by oil pollution and compensating the community will help rebuild the communities’ trust in the oil company again. As mentioned earlier, the communities’ sentiments on the company will greatly determine their willingness to spend their money on the products made by the company. Deliberate efforts by the organization will, therefore, help to amend this relationship and also strengthen it further for future business interactions.
The policies taken to prevent any future accidents will also help the company in performing their operations and still maintain a greener environment which improves its competitive advantage in the ‘woke of capitalism’ (Reno, 2019). Many customers today invest in companies that are more conscious in taking care of the environment regardless of the cost of their products. Coming up with more environment measures to transport oil will, therefore, make the company more marketable.
Conclusion
The remedies made by the oil company to eradicate the oil spillages, compensate the affected communities and rebuild its relationship with its customers will not only prevent the stakeholders in pulling their shares from the company but also work in favour of increasing the sales of the company.