In the article Invisible threat: pollutants in the country’s ground water, by Nathanial Massey, the solid waste situation of Lebanon is discussed. The secretary general of the NGO Greenline stated that, “with scant resources at their disposal, the municipalities tend to dump waste wherever is most convenient.” This is often the most easily accessible areas such as riverbanks, and for many coastal cities their garbage is dumped directly into the Mediterranean Sea. The unregulated dumping of solid waste can cause many problems for the environment, which will eventually affect human health. When rainwater passes through solid waste, it picks up harmful substances like heavy metals. As this water continues through the cycle, it carries these substances into nearby ground water reservoirs, contaminating them.
The author of this article believes that the country of Lebanon should create and enforce regulations concerning solid waste disposal for each of its municipalities. He argues that these contaminated ground water reservoirs are affecting human health. A recent study shows that farmers are constantly irrigating water from these reservoirs to grow their food crops. The heavy metals that contaminated these reservoirs are now being transferred into food that will be consumed by the public. The author also says that heavy livestock that graze on contaminated fields can pick up these heavy metals, which will eventually make their way into dairy products.
From analyzing the author’s argument it is seen that he counts the humans that will ingest these toxic chemicals and the environment, as the main components that count morally in this situation. He states that open dumps “are an eye-sore, necessitating that they be removed as far as possible from the public”. This is saying that to the author, the environment has intrinsic value. A clean environment compared to a severely polluted one will have an affect on humans. The foundation of his argument is that harm to humans from the heavy metals should be prevented, therefore implying that he believes that humans have intrinsic value as well.
From a consequentialist’s point of view an action is determined to be right or wrong depending on whether the consequences are good or bad for those who have moral value. In this situation the consequentialist viewpoint agrees with the author, in that there should be preventative measures in place to reduce harm to humans. The consequence of having several unregulated, open dumps is that heavy metals contaminate ground water reserves. This contaminated water is then irrigated and transferred to food products and will eventually enter the human body, posing several health risks. This action results in a bad outcome, and therefore should be stopped. Using a utilitarian’s point of view, the aggregate (total and average) happiness of those with moral value decreases when open dumps are created. The happiness of humans would increase if they were healthier and didn’t have to worry about contaminated food. If there is such a thing, the happiness of the environment would increase if open dumps were regulated because there would be less water pollution and therefore the environment would be able to provide suitable habitats for more organisms. A healthy environment would also increase the happiness of humans for aesthetic reasons and having clean waterways. They wouldn’t have to look at piles of garbage on the riverbank.
From a non-consequentialist’s point of view an action isn’t right or wrong based on their consequences but are rights based. In this situation, the non-consequentialist viewpoint also agrees with the author, in that there should be preventative measures in place to reduce harm to humans. Humans have the right to uncontaminated food products, and if they are contaminated they have the right to know what they are eating. Humans also have the right to a clean and healthy environment to live in. Having these open dump sites doesn’t respect several rights of humans and therefore should be regulated.
In conclusion, from both points of view having unregulated open dumps is considered a wrong action. The country of Lebanon should create some regulations regarding the disposal of the solid waste. Reducing the number of sites or somehow finding another way to deal with waste would increase the aggregate happiness of humans, as well as respect more of the rights that humans are entitled to.
Massey, N. (2009 November 2). Invisible threat: pollutants in the country's ground water. The Daily Star Lebanon. Retrieved 2009 November 2, from
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=31&article_id=108184
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