ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case that covers a broad territory and so individual instructors may choose to use it for innumerable purposes. This case is based on secondary sources as well as interviews with former executives of Avondale Mills. On January 6, 2005, Avondale Mills Chief Operating Officer Keith Hull received a call at about 4.00 am from the local plant in Graniteville, South Carolina, that there had been an accident on the railroad tracks. A tanker containing 131 tons of chlorine immediately released 90 tons of chlorine gas in toxic clouds that traveled to the nearby Avondale Mills Textile Valley. Avondale Mills, the textile company that was adjacent to the tracks and not associated with the chlorine delivery, suffered irrevocable damage that caused the company to close its doors in July 2006. Because of the chlorine spill, real estate prices began to tumble as ongoing public health concerns continue to foster.
