Doing Good Work

 What a week.  Just in the last couple of days, a new challenge popped up at work.  With all the rain the project area received, it was not surprising to have water ponding in the natural areas.  At first, though, the major challenge was simply not to get the equipment stuck.  However, as most of the area began to dry (there's been sunshine for a whole week!) we started to notice that many pools or puddles remained.  Suddenly, we realized that those that remained were likely not just due to wet conditions, but probably should be classified as "vernal pools."  This was new, and opened a huge can of worms.

Vernal pools, along with other types of wetlands, require a 300' buffer around them, inside of which no equipment may penetrate.  This put enormous restrictions on where drill points could be placed, as well as travel lanes to get to them.  So, Monday morning we began moving points.  TOC and its contractor were not very happy about this.  Some people tried to convince us it wasn't that important.  They wanted to be sure the drills could keep working, since they are production-based.  However, we knew that not only did we need to make this decision for the safety of our backsides, but also for theirs.  Vernal pool and wetland mitigation is not cheap.

By Monday afternoon, we had moved all the points necessary to finish the day's assigned production.  Someone who had earlier tried to get us to lower our standards finally said, "Good work, Bios.  All the drills are running."  It sure was nice to hear.

Ethics, and whatever happened to right and wrong being easy?

Remember when we were little, and knowing right from wrong was easy?  Pushing your way onto the slide: wrong.  Sharing the last cookie with your friend: right.  See?  Easy.  What happened?

The other day, I got a call from my supervisor letting me know I should report for work the following day.  (Our schedules are somewhat unpredictable.)  "But," he said, "you need to know that 'The Oil Company (TOC)' has decided to continue working, outside the B.O.'s recommendations."  The B.O. is the biological opinion agreed upon between the federal and state governments and TOC before the project began.  The B.O. states that when the area receives more than 1" of rain after Nov. 1 (the project area got 5 inches in December alone.  That's the whole year's worth, and not even in the rainiest month!), the biologists must monitor reference sites for germination of plants that are endangered or threatened ("listed plants".)  Once these plants have germinated, the project is supposed to stop until the plants have flowered and then new avoidance measures will be put into action. 

Here's the dilemma, though.  We can't tell which plants have germinated.  We can see the mosses and the grasses, none of which are in the listed plants.  However, we can't identify any of the cotyledons that are popping up.  So, TOC is going to keep going as if nothing is growing yet.  What do we do?  If we say, "Sorry guys, we disagree and will not help you until they flower," then they'll find someone else.  We lose our jobs.  Not only that, but if someone is willing to do it for them, what else will they be willing to compromise on?  Will they cut other corners?  Or do I say, "I'll agree to keep walking with you, but that's it."  Does that weaken my standards?  Am I flip-flopper?

I got an inkling of how important my job is last week.  I met a woman in the elevator at the motel where I stay after a 10-hour day.  "Do you work for the oil companies?" she asked.  "Sort of," I said.  "I'm a biologist that makes sure they don't run over any critters."  Her eyes widened and she asked "Do they get punished when they run over something?  What happens to them?"  I explained that per the agreement, they are given a quota that they are allowed to "impact," but that anything over the quota will result in a fine.  Just before I got out of the elevator, she said, "Keep up the good work."

That's the dilemma.  Am I doing good work if I keep working?  Or should I step aside and let someone else keep going, not knowing what else they'll give up along the way.  I won't say what my choice was.  I want to hear your thoughts.