In Australia the various government "Environment Departments" just licence polluters i.e., give them licences/approvals to tell them how much they can pollute. Sydney Harbour is still stuffed from Union Carbide/Dow's dumping of masses of Agent Orange. Maybe issuing all the bureaucrats with guns instead of pens/forms/computers would be a good idea?
Yep they licence polluters and if the company involved does something wrong, they get a penalty infringement notice that collects more money for the Government. Sometimes they are made to clean up but nobody checks it unless the public complain. For example, coal seam gas companies are required to monitor water quality and quantity in aquifers for years and years after they have ceased production. Sure a company has closed down ten years ago and are still required to check nothing is going on in the aquifer (sometimes the effects won't be revealed for up to 50 years after operations have ceased). Fat chance. There is provision the the Environmental Protection Act in Queensland to require companies to put up surities but that doesn't happen very often or it is a paltry amount that wouldn't fix a leaky tap.
Wondering how many undergound water aquifers in towns and cities are now polluted from industrial waste / contaminates that has slowly traveled down through the soil profile and worse still how many more will go the same way , companies from 50+ years ago are not going to put thier hand up to fix this .
Scary and big too! Seriously though look at this:- Orica obviously has big guns in high places; pardon the pathetic pun