Business Quote by Jane Mayer
““The Olin Corporation’s pollution was so extensive and intractable that the company faced the prospect of tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars in cleanup costs, with no end in sight.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Dark Money, 2016
The corporation’s pollution was so massive that cleanup costs were astronomical and seemingly endless.
In simple terms: Huge pollution leads to huge, seemingly unpayable cleanup costs.
Key Takeaway
Address environmental damage early to avoid massive future liabilities.
Themes
environment
corporate responsibility
pollution
legal
finance
Mood
concerned
critical
Type
analytical
informative
When to use this quote
- industrial sites
- government policy
- community health
- legal action
Key Concepts
externalities
risk management
regulation
public health
Questions to Reflect On
- How can corporations be incentivized to prevent large‑scale pollution?
- What policies could limit endless cleanup costs?
A Different Perspective
Complex legal battles can delay remediation and increase costs.
![“Americans for Prosperity annoyed some of the Tea Partiers,” recalls the libertarian blogger Ralph Benko. “These people drove up, opened the door, put T-shirts on them, then took pictures and sent them to Charles [Koch] saying, ‘See? We’re doing great things with your money.” quote by Jane Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/08d/jane-mayer-1031_libertarian_americans-for-prosperity-annoyed-some-of_21572.jpg)
![“One of the oddities of this election is the man that [Donald] Trump chose as his vice-president, Mike Pence, is one of the Kochs' favourite politicians.” quote by Jane Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/dff/jane-mayer-1031_election_one-of-the-oddities-of-this-election-is_93991.jpg)
![“[The Kochs] they hate big government.” quote by Jane Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/758/jane-mayer-1031_big-government_the-kochs-they-hate-big-government-21587_215871.jpg)
![“[S]ometimes, when you are a food person, the possible irrelevance of what you are doing doesn’t cross your mind until it’s too late. (Once, for example, when I was just starting out in the food business, I was hired by the caper people to develop a lot of recipes using capers, and it was weeks of…” quote by Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d79/nora-ephron-1217_business_s-ometimes-when-you-are-a-food-person-th_980.jpg)
![“If the State does not acquire supremacy over [vast private] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State.” quote by Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bad/bertrand-russell-69_acquire_if-the-state-does-not-acquire-supremacy_1379.jpg)