Of course, a simple chemical spill was hard to prosecute using the letter of the law. The sad fact was, the big money boys had been at it again. Whenever some environmental group came along and tried to get a bill through Congress ending a case of toxic dumping, or use of cancer-causing sprays, the congressmen would turn to big business and say, “What do you think?” and big business would say, “We’re not really sure about this bill. It’s just not quite right. We think you should kill it. Remember, you owe us a favor.”

That was what pissed off Dan Flint. It was common knowledge that big companies like Reardon Chemical had been squashing environmental bills for years, then turning around and paying millions for some advertisement on TV that told everybody what great guys they were and how many ways they were helping make the world a better place to live. It was all a load of bullshit.

If someone died, though, it was a little different. There were plenty of laws against killing someone.

He sighed and turned back to his desk. The sky had turned gray, and it looked like they might get a few snow flurries. Later today, he was supposed to fly to Texas and sit in on a study or two out there, to make sure the bass population was holding steady downstream from one of the new hydroelectric dams. He didn’t have any real doubts of that being true, but it was important to check anyway. After he returned, he would look in on the new samples from the Jackson Hydro project again, and see if the lab had found anything. They were busy right now trying to isolate whatever it was that had caused the growths on the smelt fish, but so far they hadn’t been able to get much. Once they isolated a sample or two (and he had confidence in them; they were slow, but good), they could start the testing. That was where the fun would begin; if it turned out to be toxic, he could tighten the screws on the Jackson Hydro project and that Thompson guy, who he didn’t particularly like. Squeeze a little more and see what comes running out.

He would have to be careful, of course, as much as it irked him to do so. Hydro Development was becoming a powerful company, and they had friends everywhere, even in the FERC.

Flint decided, after a moment’s reflection, that they should go after the new guy first. He might be able to tell them something, and he seemed to be more receptive. Maybe they could get him to spill his guts, and once they had an “in,” it would be much easier to crack Thompson. If they uncovered whatever was going on (and there was something, he could feel it), they could order a major cleanup at least, which would probably cost Hydro millions.