| Radio programs for the week of 4 September 2000 (fe00904 - fe00908) | For more information: | ||
Fighting Environmental Crime I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment. Florida's Department of Environmental Protection has announced a new initiative to fight crimes against the Environment. It's called the Environmental Crimes Strike Force, and it's headed up by DEP's Law Enforcement Director, Tom Tramel... "The focus will be on major environmental crime. At the top of the list, of course, is the illegal disposal and transportation of hazardous waste, organized crime connected to environmental crimes, and of course, for-profit, illegal disposal of solid and hazardous waste." Those crimes get the strike force attention, but won't be the only ones looked into... "There will be other crimes that'll be investigated, but those will be at the top of the list. So we're talking about major crimes that will be investigated by the strike force." Tramel says the strike force seeks to bring down the Al Capones of environmental crime in Florida. "Those people who willfully and intentionally violate Florida's environmental laws, and those cases which are so egregious as to warrant them being taken to the criminal level and prosecuted criminally." For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education. |
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 fe00905Watching for Environmental Crime I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment. Florida's Department of Environmental Protection has announced a new initiative to catch people who commit crimes against the environment, especially those who illegally dump waste or toxic materials. DEP Law Enforcement Director Tom Tramel says citizen input will be key... "If they hear people talking that, 'Yeah, Joe Blow is disposing of this hazardous waste or solid waste illegally,' that's just as important as actually seeing it. The chances are they will not see as much as they will hear." Environmental crimes are often difficult to spot, even for law enforcement... "It's difficult for law enforcement, but you can imagine how difficult it is for the citizens. If it's not a 55-gallon drum with skull and crossbones and green in color and they're pouring it into the water, they may not know it. But that would be a clue, obviously." Tramel expects good response from Floridians who might be aware of environmental crimes... "I think people are generally concerned. And I think the more they know, the more concerned they may get." For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education. |
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| fe00906 Organized Crime and the Environment I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment. As Florida law enforcement agencies join forces to fight environmental crime, it's surprising to hear some of the terms they use in describing these crimes against the environment. For one, the pairing of crimes against nature by what state agents are calling "organized crime." "That doesn't necessarily mean Mafioso or Costa nostra, but you've got people, two or more, organized for the purpose of committing a crime." Tom Tramel is Law Enforcement Director for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. He says it's organized crime to illegally dump waste for profit.... "A company decides for instance that they don't want to pay the cost to properly dispose of it, so they turn to illegal methods, people who are involved in disposing of it illegally... pay them less than what it would cost them to properly dispose of it." With environmental crimes, the criminals may be few, but the victims are many... "The people that illegally dispose of it in many cases dump it into the water, dump it into rivers, streams, lakes, on the ground. Ultimately then of course it does effect everyone." For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education. |
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| fe00907 Crackdown on Illegal Dumping I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment. People who illegally dump waste or chemicals in Florida can expect scrutiny from a new state initiative against environmental crimes. Tom Tramel heads up the state's new Environmental Crimes Strike Force, which investigates major crimes like chemical dumping... "There's everything from toxic waste to gasoline and battery acid... there's any number of chemicals that require special permits to even house... so there's a lot involved." Because of its compound effects, illegal dumping will be a major focus of the strike force... "Those are things that should be properly disposed of and that can effect the environment and ultimately then of course, people." The extent of illegal chemical dumping in Florida is unknown, but Tramel says regardless of magnitude, it's still a problem... "Some of it gets into the drinking water and at this point we don't know how much of an effect it's had on people. It could be that much of the illnesses that we see are related to that as a result of people being exposed either to fumes or through the drinking water." For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education. |
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| fe00908 Monitoring Environmental Crime State investigators aren't sure how much illegal dumping of waste or toxic materials goes on in Florida, but they're concerned enough to have started a new initiative against environmental crimes. Over recent months an increase in arrests for illegal dumping may be defining the problem... "It's an indication that there is a considerable amount of major environmental crimes throughout Florida." Tom Tramel is Law Enforcement Director for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection "There's just been no barometer. There's been no way to accurately determine, by comparison, how much is really out there, how much it's increasing... But I can tell you, I think we've only scratched the surface. I think there's far more major environmental crime than we realize." The newly organized Environmental Crimes Strike Force combines the resources of a number of law enforcement agencies... "We will develop better lines of communication between agencies throughout our state. We can work together to focus on these major crimes. We will be able, hopefully, to develop databases that will assist us in tracking cases. We will develop better systems of intelligence-gathering..." For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education. |
