Crimes Against the Environment explains the seriousness of the threat posed by pollution, its roots, how it has evolved, how it differs across the planet, and how society has endeavored to create and enforce laws directed at its control. Rebovich and Curtis begin with an overview of hazardous waste, the industries that produce toxins, available methods of waste treatment, and the legal environment of environmental crime. They examine the forces driving criminal behavior and the methods offenders adopt, as well as protections against polluters and their effectiveness. The book concludes with an examination of environmental justice in the United States and globally, and looks ahead to the future of crime control and prevention in this arena. Case studies and discussion questions offer further perspective on these challenging issues of environmental integrity. This text serves undergraduate or early-stage graduate students majoring in criminal justice, environmental science, sociology, and political science, and could also serve as a resource for professionals in environment-related occupations.

Crimes Against the Environment explains the seriousness of the threat posed by pollution, its roots, how it has evolved, how it differs across the planet, and how society has endeavored to create and enforce laws directed at its control. Rebovich and Curtis begin with an overview of hazardous waste, the industries that produce toxins, available methods of waste treatment, and the legal environment of environmental crime. They examine the forces driving criminal behavior and the methods offenders adopt, as well as protections against polluters and their effectiveness. The book concludes with an examination of environmental justice in the United States and globally, and looks ahead to the future of crime control and prevention in this arena. Case studies and discussion questions offer further perspective on these challenging issues of environmental integrity. This text serves undergraduate or early-stage graduate students majoring in criminal justice, environmental science, sociology, and political science, and could also serve as a resource for professionals in environment-related occupations.

For many years, if businesses were caught dumping waste, it was treated more as a nuisance than as a crime; the common images of the criminal and the dumper were worlds apart. In Dangerous Ground, originally published in 1992, Donald J. Rebovich closes this perceptual gap, providing essential information about and analysis of hazardous waste crime and the hazardous waste criminal. This paperback edition includes new material, noting important changes since the book's original publication. Rebovich finds that the criminal dumper is usually an ordinary businessman. The author's research discovers that hazardous waste disposal crimes are more likely driven by the cost of legitimate disposal options, rather than by organized crime figures. It is also a world where one's criminal position is often determined by industry connections and personal relationships. Dangerous Ground places the criminal dumping culture in perspective by detailing the basics of hazardous waste generation, its legitimate disposal, government responses, and efforts to control illegal disposal. An epilogue concludes with an analysis of new threats to our environment posed by gas and oil drilling, declining federal prosecutions, progressive sentencing for offenders, and recommendations on how the global community can effectively address international environmental crime.

Examines dumpers of hazardous waste as criminals, comparing their behavior to other criminals. Finds a fairly unusual environment, in which the intensity, duration, and methods of the crime are determined by opportunities in the legitimate marketplace, rather than by a crime syndicate. Annotation co