Thanks to a very intrepid reader in the Charleston area, you are privy to the first of many (well-deserved, to be honest) lawsuits against Freedom Industries, the company whose leaking tank disrupted lives for thousands/millions of people in West Virginia. Amusingly, the lawyer appears to believe that 4-methylcyclohexylmethanol is made of methylcyclohexane and methanol. (page 9) Below is my annotated comments on his assertions:
Ultimately, this lawsuit doesn't matter. Freedom Industries will be hounded into bankruptcy for their negligence and their failure to respond adequately. Sad for those who will lose their positions through no fault of their own.
UPDATE: That didn't take long. The Wall Street Journal reports Freedom Industries has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
UPDATE: That didn't take long. The Wall Street Journal reports Freedom Industries has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
What's really sad is that this is exactly the type of tripe that people will post on Buzzfeed and cause an uproar. It's probably enough to convince a judge and a jury of 12 ignorant people, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteThey just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the little known 37-step Woodward-Corey-Freedom synthesis of 4-MCHM from methylclyclohexane and methanol. Good stuff.
ReplyDeleteLove the Princess Bride reference.
ReplyDeleteWhen a firm goes bankrupt, its parent companies (if any) should be fully liable for any debts. Next in line should be subsidiaries. Next in line should be any sister corporations spun off in the last five years. Next in line should be the firm's executives and board members, who should have their last ten year's worth of pay exceeding minimum wage on the table (with interest at the firm's cost of capital and with a $35 late fee for good measure). Way down at the far end of the line should be creditors, pensioners, and the public.
ReplyDeleteI think you'd agree that this would radically change the way that companies were structured/formed, yes?
DeleteI'd love to take a whack at the layers-upon-layers of tax and liability shielding that is the purpose of far too many "corporations". Remember, corporations (in contrast to businesses) are creations of government and cannot exist within private contracts. Corporations should only be allowed to exist or even acknowledged to the extent that they serve the public. One's PO box in the Cayman's certainly wouldn't qualify.
DeleteI have been wondering why the name of this chemical is not (4-methylcyclohexyl)-methanol or even 1-hydroxymethyl,4-methylcyclohexane. Use of either name would have almost certainly avoided the present confusion.
ReplyDelete