Edward Freeman discusses in his Stakeholder thesis how every member of a community, including the consumers, stockholders, and also communities and financiers. That all of them have a stake in the business, and an essential part of capitalism is making sure all of them are going in the same direction in order for the business to maintain success. That makes this article on Exxon Mobil illegally dumping waste in Pennsylvania so harmful, because dumping waste directly harms the communities in the area by creating a health risk, thus damaging the stake of people in the business. Even Milton Friedman in his article about how there is no real social or environmental responsibility to a business, and the primary duty of a business is to increasing profit margins, states that breaking the law to do so is not only an ethical violation but can directly harm the business. By breaking the law and placing profits over environmental safety and government regulations on protection of groundwater, Exxon potentially polluted Pennsylvania community groundwater. Upon examination, it becomes clear that the company was negligent in dealing with waste and needs to re-examine its commitment to stakeholders like Pennsylvania communities close to its shale-gas drilling sites.