The Asacro Company was foundry for copper in Tacoma, Washington. People used to talk of the "Tacoma aroma" when referring to the foul smell emitted by Asacro's gaint chimneys. the company's activities however, did not just produce bad smell. Worse, they also released a notably high amount of arsenic.
In the '70s the company had invested more than $40 million in an attempt to reduce the arsenic emission. But in 1983, the agency for environmental protection told the company that the law demanded that they reduce the emission of arsenic by at the very least, 25%. Arsenic is carcinogenic. The agency estimated that the arsenic emission of the company led to for lung cancer cases a year. The new restriction was aimed at reducing this figure to the probability of just one case yearly.
Question
1. What is the ethical issue in the case?
2. If you are the president of Asarco Company, what would you do and why?
3. Discuss the ethical implications of the case using the utilitarian principle.