“They’re too expensive.” The two men stared at each other for a moment, and John felt cold and sick in his stomach. Wilson smiled, but it wasn’t the kind of smile that John liked.
“Look, John,” he said. “Your report says that we should build some new machines to clean up the waste products before they go into the river, right? And those machines will cost two million pounds! Where do you think we can find all that, aren’t we?”
“We’re doing very well, yes,” said Wilson. “Bit if we spend two million pounds to build these new machines, the paint will have to cost more, and we won’t sell so much.”
“But - we’ve got to do it,” said John. “These waste products are much more dangerous than I’d Thought. Didn’t you read that in my report? When I put the chemicals in rats” drinking water, some of the baby rats were born without eyes and ears. One didn’t have any legs, and one had six,” He shivered. “And some were born without legs when they drank only two parts per million. We can’t put those chemicals in the river.”