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Chapter 1289: Chapter 1145: Debut? (Please subscribe!)
Tang Qing was "racking his brain" at the time.
Another place.
Massachusetts.
Boston.
Eastern suburbs.
Within a vast manor.
A group of people in the conference room on the second floor were "agonizing." This was that "unlucky" family feeling that this year’s fortunes were not in their favor; they had lost to the Ge Family in business competition and their underhanded tactics had been exposed.
Now.
As they were preparing to target another Chinese family, this incident occurred—an oil spill, which was no small matter—most crucially, this spill happened in the Gulf of Mexico.
To the north is the United States.
Too close.
Mexico was still manageable.
But the United States would be difficult.
Though they also possessed formidable political power.
It still depended on the situation. When it came to a unified stance against foreign entities, there wasn’t much of a problem, but causing trouble in the United States, angering the American public, and affecting the maritime environment of the United States—that was another matter entirely.
The United States Government.
It was not run by their family.
"We can no longer hide the incident. In half an hour, as soon as it gets light, the whole of the United States will know. Taking into account the capping of the leak, the handling of the spilled crude oil, and the fines, we estimate that the direct financial losses for our family will exceed 2.5 billion US dollars."
"Now, the most important task is to cap the leaky pipe. If the capping goes wrong and we drag it out another day, our losses will increase by about 100 million a day. But there should be no big problems." 𝓃ℴ𝓋𝓹𝓊𝓫.𝒸𝓸𝓂
"We can’t delay. O’Connor, you must end this quickly and mitigate the impact; I can only secure three days of safety for the family," said the highest-ranking member of the family.
"Yes, we expect to complete the capping by this evening."
O’Connor.
The manager of the oil company.
Regarding this accident, he always found it strange, but the investigation did not uncover any signs of tampering and, despite employee-operational errors, everything was still within the normal range.
This loss.
They would certainly find someone to foot the bill.
Insurance companies would not cover it all; for high-risk offshore drilling platforms, a single significant mistake could bankrupt even the biggest insurance company—no insurer would be so foolish.
Of course.
For "risk-controllable" oil tankers.
Insurance companies did in fact offer full insurance services.
...
Half an hour later.
Daybreak in the United States.
News of an oil spill on an offshore drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico spread throughout the country. However, the media was "restrained." Under the influence of advance financial public relations, they simply reported that capping efforts were underway and that it would soon be completely sealed.
O’Connor reassured the public not to worry.
Everything’s OK.
At a glance.
Apart from a few environmentalists protesting in the streets, there was not much of an upheaval, as in the Information Age, unless the media intended to guide it otherwise, many major events could dissipate among countless headlines.
However.
Media is not an infinite cover-up.
If capping is not completed within three days, no amount of money can stem the tide of public opinion. With so many watching, overly forceful actions would surely damage the media’s credibility.
A bit of money.
Or your livelihood.
They knew perfectly well which weighed more.
Therefore.
What O’Connor had.
Was just three days.
Not only were the media watching, but this was also an unspoken rule agreed upon with the US upper class—fail to resolve the situation in three days, and what awaits their family will be the "judgment of justice" that will not be absent.
Everything would proceed through the normal process.
...
Evening.
The offshore drilling platform.
Ships had encircled the area, tirelessly cleaning the spilled oil. Yet, the pace was too slow; the rate of cleanup could not keep up with the leaking, causing the crude oil to pollute even farther stretches of the sea surface.
Watching the crude oil drift further away on the waves.
O’Connor, arriving by helicopter, had eyes full of distress. Cleaning up every gallon of oil was costly, and the expenses were high. Thankfully, the accident would soon come to an end.
"Boss, the leaky pipe has been capped, and pressure has been restored to normal."
Good news arrived.
A smile emerged on O’Connor’s face.
"We’re all clear this time, right?" asked O’Connor.
"There’s no doubt about it," assured the representative from the capping company, which was under O’Connor’s own control. In order to manage costs, such ’accident response’ companies were almost always run by insiders.
"That’s a relief."
However,
To be safe and with time still on his side, O’Connor waited until the next day to make the announcement. When the news that the leak was completely sealed got out, journalists who were broadcasting live sent out the story.
At the press conference,
O’Connor skillfully handled the journalists’ questions, speaking eloquently about social responsibility, promising that such incidents would never happen again, and touting the superiority of the company’s technology.
However,
His deputy downstairs received a phone call.
His face turned pale.
He hurried over to O’Connor.
After whispering in his ear,
O’Connor’s expression froze.
At the sealing point,
The leak had occurred again, and it seemed to be even worse this time. The media journalists were quick to capture this expression, clicking away with their cameras.
Using urgent company business as an excuse,
O’Connor quickly left the scene.
"What’s going on?"
O’Connor made a call to the chaotic sealing ship.
"We don’t know. It was fine just before, but the pressure gauge suddenly jumped, and then the pressure plummeted. We suspect it’s due to geologic activity down below," the person in charge quickly explained.
This hot potato,
He decisively refused to carry the blame for the sealing company, cleverly pinning it on geologic activity.
"..." O’Connor was speechless.
Geologic activity?
It seemed to make sense.
"We don’t have time anymore. Less than two days left. If any more accidents occur, it will be a disaster for you and me. Do you understand?" O’Connor said gravely.
"Yes, we’ll do everything we can to seal it," the person in charge said.
"Not to try, but it must be done," O’Connor huffed.
"I... understand."
What else could the person in charge say? A certainty? This was the power of nature at work, hundreds of meters underwater, nothing was certain. But he still agreed, for even if they couldn’t seal it, at worst he’d lose his job.
Not a big deal.
If O’Connor knew the person in charge was ’taking it so lightly,’ he’d probably be furious. Following this, O’Connor received a call from his family—undoubtedly, another educational session.
The next day.
Noon.
Working overnight,
The leak was sealed again.
Then,
O’Connor’s nightmare began.
Leak.
Leak.
Leak.
It was as if fate itself was against him. The pipelines kept failing due to abnormal pressure. The more they tried to seal, the more leaks happened, and this too had been exposed by the media. O’Connor knew that this time, it was really going to cost them dearly.
Multiple U.S. environmental agencies were already investigating.
The spill was even worse than expected,
The fines could exceed three billion dollars.
"FUCK."
O’Connor almost flipped when he got the estimate. Oil made money, sure, but losing it was truly despairing. So much money—years of profits for the entire oil company—gone just like that.
Afterward,
They would also face the high cost of cleaning up the spilled crude oil. Not to mention the new leaks, just cleaning up the currently spilled oil would cost at least five hundred million dollars.
And it wouldn’t even be 100% clean.
The aftermath would be even more costly.
On June 23rd,
The Myanmar Environmental Technology Company knocked on their door.
"Five hundred million dollars, we’ll take care of all your spilled oil, and we can sign a long-term contract." Seeing the contract stirred O’Connor’s interest; he was well aware of the company.
Filters.
They had effectively controlled global air pollution.
Polluted gas treatment technology, the best in the world, no one questioned it. And now they had developed an economical technology for reclaiming and treating polluted oil; it didn’t seem like a novelty anymore.
So,
Without much hesitation,
After witnessing their treatment technology, O’Connor quickly signed the contract and paid a three-hundred-million-dollar deposit. According to the contract, the recovered oil would also belong to the Myanmar Environmental Technology Company.
Indeed.
All of this,
Apart from giving the family some trouble,
Was to launch a new service project and make some money. The solid waste treatment technology that Tang Qing had spent ten billion on had been in development for over a year without launch. Now, it could perfectly serve as the ’debut’.
