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262 CHAPTER 10 EVALUATION 2. You are the project manager. Discuss your options. Define YOUR position and defend it. Note: Ethics are personal interpretations of the proper course of professional con-duct in a given situation. While there are “norms” for ethical decisions, they are very much influenced by individual perceptions and therefore can justifiably show significant variations. You will be graded on your analysis and defense of your ethical positions on the above issue, not on the positions themselves. 10.3. Nick is chief engineer in a phosphate fertilizer plant that generates more than one million tons per year of gypsum, a waste collected in a nearby pile. Over many years, the pile has grown into a mountain containing 40 million tons of waste. There is little room at the present site for any more waste, so a new gypsum pile is planned. Current environmental regulations call for the elimination of acidic water seepage and groundwater contamination by phosphates and fluorides. Nick’s design for the new pile, which has been approved, incorporates the latest technology and complies with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state regulations. However, he also knows that the old pile-although exempt from the current regulations-presents a major public hazard. When it rains, acidic water seeps through the pile, carrying phosphates into the groundwater. In a confidential report to management, Nick recommends measures that will pre-vent the seepage from happening. His company turns down his proposal, stating that, at present, no law or regulation demands such remedy. Use the four virtues, four-component model, evaluation checklist, ethics checklist, and five P’s to help you analyze the situation. Problem adapted from Chemical Engineering, p. 40, March 2, 1987. 10.4. The environmental and safety control group in a circuit-board etching and plating plant has just completed a program to improve the measurement of toxic releases into the atmosphere in response to…