ethics essay
Alexsi
EthicsElements.docxEthics
Short video of a physician being interviewed about the health problems he has seen since the Porter Ranch gas leak. Claims he received a letter from the Department of Health telling him to ignore symptoms that may be associated with gas leak. Could be used to discuss the ethical depravity of Health Department.
Discusses the health problems of Porter Ranch residence that have progressed since the incident began in October 2015. This article interviews Dr. Jeffrey Nordella who has been actively tracking the health of 50 patients of his who are residence of Aliso Canyon. Goes into further detail of why the LA County Department of Health and Safety has not yet conducted its own health study.
This article discusses Porter Ranch residence concerns over short and long term health effects.
http://www.laweekly.com/news/what-went-wrong-at-porter-ranch-6405804
Great informative article on what exactly happened at Porter Ranch and the implications of poor regulation. Could be used to discuss unethical practices. Example, Emergency shut off values for natural gas reservoirs are only required when the well is considered a “critical well”. Because of this, SoCal gas was not required to replace the valve they removed from reservoir SS-25 in 1979. As a result, when this reservoir leaked, SoCal gas was unable to prevent SS-25 from spewing natural gas into the atmosphere.
Possible Question: You are a reservoir maintenance worker for SoCal gas at the Porter Ranch plant. Even though it was not required by law, you know that many of the reservoirs do not contain an emergency valve. What are the immediate steps you should take and why? (Can consider dissent channels, the ethical wheel, institutional mentality, ect).
Possible Question: You work for the Department of Health in California during the Porter Ranch gas leak. You have been receiving concerned calls from local doctors concerning their patients’ declining health and its correlation with the gas leak. When you inform your supervisor, he tells you to not only ignore their concerns but to write back to the concerned doctors and tell them to ignore the symptoms that may be related to the Porter Ranch gas leak.
