CE195 – Civil Engineering Laws, Contracts, Specifications and Ethics

Name: Sumande, Cedrix V.

Student No. / Program-Year: 2019152006 / CE-3
Course/Section: CE195-2 / B3
Date of Submission: 15/10/2021

1. You are an environmental engineer for one of the many local plants. That plant discharges
effluents into a lake in a flourishing tourist area. Although all the plants are marginally
profitable, they compete for the same customers. Your responsibilities are to monitor the water
and air discharges at your plant and the periodic reporting to Dept. of Anti-pollution. You have
just prepared a report that indicates that the level of pollution in the Plant’s water discharges
slightly exceed the legal limits. Your supervisor says you should regard the excess as a mere
‘technicality’, and he asks you to ‘adjust’ the data so that the data appears to be in compliance.
He says that slight excess is not going to endanger human or fish life any more than if the plant
were actually in compliance. However, he says, solving the problem would require a very heavy
investment. He explains, “We cannot afford new equipment. It might cost even a few jobs. It will
set us behind our competitors. Besides, he says that many of the competitors are doing the same
and the bad publicity we would get might scare off some of the tourist industry, making it worse
for everybody”

A. What are your basic responsibilities as an environmental engineer in this plant? How should
you respond to your supervisor’s requests?

- As an environmental engineer, it is my responsibility to monitor the water and air discharges at

the plant, which also includes providing periodic reports to the Department of Anti-Pollution—
being the assigned environmental engineer in the plant, one of my primary responsibilities as an
environmental engineer is to develop solutions that can help in lessening the environmental
problem faced by the environment through the use of different engineering principles.

– Basically, this situation is not about being an environmental engineer. Because dealing in this
kind of responsibility is part of being a human, just like doing good things all the time and
making a habit of honesty. Being an Environmental Engineer from the word "environment," we
should act according to our knowledge to preserve and protect our environment. In the act of
dishonesty, there is always a consequence behind those actions and would cost a person a lot. In
the worst-case scenario, the person would commit a crime and hold responsible for the mistakes
that would put them into jail. The basic responsibilities of being a professional are always to
uphold our integrity and honesty. We always talk about the problems and deal in such a manner
where we speak about facts, and whatever the consequences that may occur on our decision, we
must be ready and face it truthfully. As per the supervisor's request, if in the future I would be
dealing in such crime like altering the data to make it normal to provide a countermeasure for our
competitor, I would resign because it puts me at greater risk than staying in my current job
providing erroneous data or report. As a person, I would like to work in an environment where I
could put my pure intention and work as diligently. I won't tolerate this attitude, especially when
dealing with false reports, because our hard work could always replace the money. Still, when
overpopulated, nature itself couldn't replace the paper that we have to buy our wants and needs.

B. What should you do, from “all things considered” perspective as environmental engineer?

- I am sure that I have made the right decision. As an environmental engineer, my priority is to
make that the environment is not being destroyed by the types of machinery and falsely advertise
that would cover the wrongdoings in my work. That kind of problem must not be ignored so,
with my decision not to adjust the data, I may be able to create a solution that will address the
issue. As professional environmental engineers, we have knowledge and practices on how to
conserve and protect our environment and maintain the profit that we get from our work. For
example, in establishing a natural park, we have a significant investment in that project that
would provide the safety and maintenance of the fish and plants in the park. To maintain the
cleanliness and eco-friendly of the park, some of the companies would use chemicals to quickly
clean the water or provide some substance mix into the water to provide good quality of plants
that could be seen in the park. But at the same time, even the outside of the plants was enjoyable
in our eyes the inside is different and must deal according to our practices. We don’t need to alter
the reports to maintain our current assets in the project because our number 1 priority should be
the safety of our people and, at the same time, protecting our nature. There could be a way to
mitigate the problem without using new equipment if we don’t have the budget; there is always a
solution to every problem if we consider many possibilities to protect.
2. Jack Strong is seated between Tom Evans and Judy Hanson at a dinner meeting of a local
industrial engineering society. Jack and Judy have an extended discussion of a variety of
concerns, many of which are related to their common engineering interests. At the conclusion of
the dinner, Jack turns to Tom, smiles, and says, ‘‘I’m sorry not to have talked with you more
tonight, Tom, but Judy’s better looking than you.’’

Judy is taken aback by Jack’s comment. A recent graduate from a school in which more than 20
percent of her classmates were women, she had been led to believe that finally the stereotypical
view that women are not as well suited for engineering as men was finally going away. However,
her first job has raised some doubts about this. She was hired into a division in which she is the
only woman engineer. Now, even after nearly 1 year on the job, she has to struggle to get others
to take her ideas seriously. She wants to be recognized first and foremost as a good engineer. So,
she had enjoyed ‘‘talking shop’’ with Jack. But she was stunned by his remark to Tom, however
innocently it might have been intended. Suddenly, she saw the conversation in a very different
light. Once again, she sensed that she was not being taken seriously enough as an engineer.

How should Judy respond to Jack’s remark? Should she say anything? Assuming Tom
understands her perspective, what, if anything, should he say or do?