The Jones Company of Tennessee vs. The Environment

TLDR

The Jones Company of Tennessee, LLC engaged in unauthorized construction activities that severely impacted environmental integrity in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Between July 2021 and 2022, the company used heavy machinery to discharge dredged and fill material into 1.14 acres of federally protected wetlands without a required permit.

Despite previously applying for a permit and being told one was necessary, the company proceeded with the destruction anyway after their application was withdrawn for lack of response. The result was the suffocation of a wetland system connected to the Cumberland River (a vital water source for the surrounding life) all for the sake of a residential development known as “The Retreat at Norman Farms”. The company settled for a civil penalty of $30,000. Which here be a sum likely viewed as a mere “cost of doing business!

While this summary outlines the basic facts, the true depth of this corporate misconduct and its implications for corporate accountability and society requires a closer look. Read on to understand how this happened.

The Banality of Corporate Greed

In the grand theater of neoliberal capitalism, the script is wearyingly predictable. A corporation, driven by the relentless pursuit of profit, encounters a regulation designed to protect the common good. In this case, the public health and ecological stability of Tennessee’s waterways.

Rather than adhering to the law, the entity calculates that the cost of forgiveness is cheaper than the cost of permission. The Jones Company of Tennessee, LLC, a residential developer, provides the latest case study in this systemic rot.

Operating near Hendersonville, the company viewed 1.14 acres of wetlands not as a crucial biological filter or a flood mitigation system, but as an obstacle to be bulldozed for their “Retreat at Norman Farms”. The destruction of these waters, connected to the Cumberland River is an act of violence against the shared resources of the community, executed with the arrogance of an entity that knows the system is rigged in its favor.

Allegations and The Timeline of Impunity

The most damning aspect of this case is not merely that the company broke the law, but how they did it. They engaged the regulatory body, received confirmation that a permit was required, and then (when the bureaucracy demanded more information) simply ghosted the regulators and sent in the bulldozers.

Here is the timeline of corporate misconduct:

The $30,000 “Cost of Doing Business”

Under the logic of corporate ethics (an oxymoron in the current economic paradigm) the penalty for destroying an ecosystem is essentially a transaction fee. The Jones Company agreed to pay a civil penalty of $30,000 to settle these EPA allegations.

To put this in perspective, in the context of a residential development like “The Retreat at Norman Farms,” $30,000 is likely less than the revenue generated from the sale of a single mid-sized vehicle, let alone a house.

By setting the penalty this low, the regulatory framework inadvertently incentivizes corporate greed. If the profit from developing the land exceeds the fine for destroying it, the rational capitalist actor will always choose destruction. This is not corporate social responsibility!!! It’s actually a calculated plunder of public resources where the economic fallout is externalized onto the community in the form of degraded water quality and lost flood protection.

Ecological Imperialism in Our Backyards

The wetlands in question had a “significant nexus” to a perennial tributary of Drakes Creek, which feeds the Cumberland River. By filling these wetlands, The Jones Company effectively erased a natural infrastructure that filters corporate pollution and manages storm water.

This act mirrors a form of domestic imperialism. Just as multinational corporations extract resources from the Global South with little regard for the local population, domestic developers colonize local ecosystems, extracting value (land for housing) and leaving behind a diminished environment.

The machinery used (excavators and bulldozers) served as the weapons in this war on nature. The “pollutants” were the very earth and fill material dumped into the water, choking the life out of the wetland!

Why It Matters: Wealth Disparity and Public Health

Why should the average citizen care about 1.14 acres of mud in Tennessee? Because it is symptomatic of a broader disease.

When corporations like The Jones Company are allowed to bypass regulations that protect public health and water safety, it signals that wealth disparity has translated into legal disparity. The wealthy can buy their way out of compliance, while the poor live in the flood zones and drink the downstream consequences.

This case exemplifies the failure of corporate accountability. The company acknowledged the violation, paid a token fine, and likely passed the cost onto the homebuyers. Meanwhile, the permanent loss of wetland function remains a debt the public must carry!

The Consent Agreement & Final Order for this case can be found on the EPA’s website: https://yosemite.epa.gov/OA/RHC/EPAAdmin.nsf/Filings/03D25BABE533B71F85258B18007E7D3E/$File/Jones%20Company%20of%20Tennessee,%20LLC.CAFO.4.15.24.CWA-04-2022-0508(b).pdf