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April 1991
THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION FORUM
By
Michael A. O'Brien
Assistant State's Attorney
and
Chief of the Economic Crimes Unit
Office of the State Attorney, Orlando, Florida
In recent years, environmental crime has received increased
attention. The growing industrialization of our Nation, media
focus on several serious environmental incidents, and a
heightened public sensitivity to this type of offense has brought
the environmental issue into the limelight.
Coordinated efforts among law enforcement agencies, fire
departments, and regulatory agencies have long been in place in
some parts of the United States, particularly the Northeast and
West Coast. Still, many jurisdictions do not have an organized
approach to the detection, investigation, and prosecution of the
environmental criminal.
SHORTCOMINGS
The lack of organization and communication among some
agencies arose for a number of reasons. Historically,
environmental crime was not an investigative priority. Few
States enacted statutes that dealt adequately with environmental
offenses, and typically, law enforcement agencies focused their
attention on the more traditional crimes. Also, local district
attorneys or States' attorneys offices handled so few
environmental cases that no one individual gained sufficient
expertise to prosecute the environmental offender. Moreover,
judges who imposed minimal sanctions after a plea or conviction
displayed a lack of knowledge as to the seriousness of
environmental offenses and the costly effect of such crimes.
Even regulatory agencies, while having considerable
knowledge of environmental science and regulations, were
unprepared. For the most part, environmental workers lacked
basic knowledge of the investigative techniques and case
preparation skills necessary to prosecute the environmental
criminal successfully. And, in most jurisdictions, several
agencies shared the responsibility for enforcing environmental
regulations. Identifying just which Federal, State, or local
agency had the responsibility for a particular environmental
problem was sometimes difficult and usually frustrating.
SOLUTION
Environmental crime has no jurisdictional boundaries. It
can occur anywhere, at any given time. Therefore, a broad
spectrum of participants from law enforcement and other public
service departments is needed for any program designed to combat
the environmental criminal.
To combat the environmental criminal, the Office of the
State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit in the State of
Florida organized the Central Florida Environmental Protection
Forum. Previous efforts against environmental violators
involving the office had been fragmented, and cooperative
efforts between law enforcement and regulatory agencies were
infrequent. By establishing the forum, organizers hoped to
identify problems encountered in detecting, investigating, and
prosecuting the environmental offender. They also wanted the
forum to serve as a means for participants to gain an
understanding of the different perspectives and capabilities of
the agencies involved in the fight against environmental crime.
Organizers of the forum gathered representatives from
police agencies, fire departments, and environmental regulatory
agencies at both the State and local levels. Also invited to
join in the effort were local building inspectors, public health
personnel, and sewer authorities. However, when organizing
environmental forums, coordinators should not overlook agencies
unique to a particular area, such as game and fish commissions,
water management districts (a special taxing district in
Florida), and coastal and marine patrols.
FORUM'S PURPOSE
The forum serves primarily as an information exchange. It
is designed to instruct participants about the responsibilities
and operations of the agencies involved in investigating and
prosecuting all aspects of environmental crime, primarily
through training sessions.
Perhaps the greatest problem in training members of an
environmental forum is the diverse nature of their skills and
experience. Training must cover all aspects of environmental
crime, yet remain interesting to all.
TRAINING
The Central Florida Environmental Protection Forum offers
classes on State and Federal statutory law, chain of custody,
and environmental evidence handling procedures. It also
addresses the placarding and manifesting of hazardous waste, the
requirements for investigating an environmental case, dealing
with the criminal justice system, participating in a mock trial,
and the proper response when contaminated by a hazardous
substance.
A thorough knowledge of State and Federal environmental
laws is critical when dealing with environmental crime. Crimes
of this nature are complex, technical, and differ in significant
ways from other types of crime. Environmental statutes, as well
as amendments, relevant definitions, defenses, and exceptions,
may be spread over several volumes. And while normally no
individual obtains permission to commit an offense, it is quite
possible that a suspected environmental violator may claim an
exception under a particular statute in order to be issued a
permit from an environmental regulatory agency. For example, a
local township may be pumping raw sewage into a nearby lake, but
if a permit to do so has been issued by a regulatory agency,
criminal prosecution probably will not be initiated.
The training also incorporates a practical exercise staged
in a simulated environmental crime scene. During this phase of
instruction, firefighters learn that there is more to an
environmental incident than their primary concern of containment
and control. Police officers and regulatory workers learn how a
fire department responds to a hazardous waste spill. In
addition, information presented during this exercise that is so
basic to one organization offers new insight to participants
from other agencies. For example, firefighters can identify the
senior fire officer on the scene by the color of helmet worn, a
fact not readily known to police officers and regulatory
workers.
This practical training exercise exposes participants to
the complexities of incident control. The shift of command can
pose problems as control at the scene is passed from the fire
department and its containment activities to the police
department for investigation, and finally to the regulatory
agency for clean up. In addition, the practical exercise
affords the best means available for participants to learn about
unique environmental problems, such as a contaminated corpse or
corrosive evidence.
Instructors for the training sessions are drawn from
participating agencies. For instance, prosecutors teach law,
police officers explain the proper way to investigate
environmental crime, and regulatory workers provide information
on environmental sciences. But, if other agencies can provide
useful information, they should not be overlooked. Even if they
cannot participate directly, they may be able to provide
instructional materials. Outside instructors, as a norm,
increase interest in the forum and generate higher attendance.
BENEFITS
Establishing an environmental forum produces immediate
benefits. Perhaps the most important benefit of environmental
training is that it gets the various agencies to work together.
No longer are agencies faceless entities, but people trying to
do their jobs professionally. Indeed, the forum allows those
who work environmental crimes to meet their counterparts in
other agencies, which facilitates cooperation. For example,
regulatory workers now know who in law enforcement has knowledge
of and experience in working environmental crimes. Or, police
officers may meet more readily with prosecutors they know to
determine if an environmental violation has occurred and whether
a particular incident is criminal or civil in nature.
Police officers may learn that the best place to send
environmental crime evidence is not to a crime laboratory, but
to a regulatory agency's laboratory. Questions regarding who is
responsible for reviewing a particular environmental activity or
which agency responds to an environmental incident no longer
remain unanswered.
MAINTAINING MOMENTUM
The extent of participation by the various agencies varies
considerably. Some agencies participate enthusiastically in
forum activities, while others rarely appear for the sessions or
drop out altogether. This is why it is important to continue to
generate interest in the program. Agencies from other
jurisdictions should be encouraged to join in the effort.
Topics for instruction should be reviewed and updated, and new
developments in environmental issues should be incorporated into
the training.
It is important that training be balanced so that one
particular topic does not dominate the sessions. The training
should be sensitive to the member agencies, particularly in
their desire to cooperate but to maintain separate identities.
For example, fire departments and regulatory agencies do not
want their personnel "turned into cops." This practice will
also preclude possible claims by future defendants that forum
members, by virtue of their participation, have become agents
for the State's attorney or a police department.
CONCLUSION
Detecting, investigating, and prosecuting the environmental
criminal poses a complex and often difficult task to each agency
that deals with environmental violations. However, the
successful prosecution of the environmental offender is possible
when there is cooperation among police, fire, and regulatory
agencies. Such cooperation will not occur spontaneously, but
must be fostered through the exchange of information and
knowledge. Only then will advances be made to combat
environmental crime.