Why Walter Peck was wrong?

[Jonathan101]

Peck claims to represent the third district of the EPA- except there is no third district. The EPA is divided into regions, and New York is Region 2.

He initially wants Peter to let him see their storage facility, claiming it is to look for hazardous chemicals. But he comes back with a laundry list of orders including a "cease and desist of commerce" order, which normally would come with a deadline for the Ghostbusters to comply and should not give him the authority to shut the power grid down immediately. Sounds like he might have actually lied to the judge, or perhaps he's actually lying about what is in the warrant (it does look pretty thin for everything he is claiming it to be).

He also tells the officer that if Peter tries to stop the electrician again, the officer can shoot Peter. Even if Peck isn't serious, highly unprofessional and unethical. Of course, he also order the electrician to shut the grid down despite the electrician not knowing how it works.

After shutting the grid down he demands the Ghostbusters be arrested because they are in violation of the Environmental Protection Act- no such Act actually exists.

Honestly, especially if we're assuming the laws and regulations in the GB universe are the same as in the real world (and frankly even if we aren't), Peck is a seriously shady character.

[CharlesPhipps]

Well some of that is just likely movie nonsense like the 555 phone number but yes, Peck exceeded his authority tremendously.

However, it's muddled by the fact that Egon is probably running a bunch of equipment that the villains in Maniac Mansion put in their basement. If it wasn't in New York but the country, I imagine Egon would have his reactor cooling with a swimming pool.

[CharlesPhipps]

My two cents on all of this, there was a lot of things that could've been done better with the containment grid, even putting aside the fact that when shut off suddenly it goes off like a bomb something that potentially volatile should at the very least have redundancies and backup systems in case of a sudden power loss. My parents both worked in the oil refinery business and I've heard of plenty of stories of refinery accidents due to human error, natural disasters or lack of foresight or lack of preparation when it came to safeties. Maybe Ray and Egon were planning for redundancies once they had the funds but the fact that it got so crowded in such a short period of time does suggest that they probably didn't plan for long term containment.

There's some interesting elements about this:

1. Egon created most of this equipment based on theoretical models that haven't had months to test, let alone years. A ghost being trapped in a containment unit was theoretical until they started doing it and by the time they shut off the power grid, there's HUNDREDS of ghosts in the containment unit.

2. It's very probable that they can't AFFORD to make redundancies.

The thing about the Ghostbusters is that they are the first line of the war against Cthulhu when they were prepped to be extremely expensive exterminators.

[Jonathan101]

I think it's more fun to imagine that it isn't just 555 nonsense and Peck really is just spouting a lot of nonsense.

Makes you realise you don't actually know anything about this guy or what is going on in his head, and raises a bunch of questions about his character and history.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

I really don't know if people are talking about another movie, but his actions blatantly were the direct cause of unleashing all that cosmic energy back into the world.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

It's very probable that they can't AFFORD to make redundancies. The thing about the Ghostbusters is that they are the first line of the war against Cthulhu when they were prepped to be extremely expensive exterminators.

The Ghostbusters aren't a regulated agency. There's no public responsibility to look into their administrative detail and make sure they're up to code when doing what they do, the men are acting as a private entity doing restricted activity.

The public responsibility is to assess fully what kind of operation is going on by trained experts to handle the situation. If it was a regulated agency then a lot of the assessment would be bypassed and the Ghostbusters would be held accountable to regulation (and I'd think they would have minor oversight issues as said, but there were no indications of any real problems). Since it's not a public operation at all then how it is handled is not from a top-down bureaucratic imperative.

The only time someone can just flip a switch like that is when it's like their own department or business. It feels like a lot of what's being said kind of ignores that. As an authority figure he probably was able to physically do what he did, but as far as procedure there is no justifying what he did.

[TGLS]

Peck was wrong because a reasonable inspector would either undermine the protagonists or kill the climax of the movie. I mean, these are two plausible scenarios:

1) Peck shows up with a crackling Geiger counter and Venkman drives him off. Peck keeps requesting they submit to inspection, and they refuse in a comic manner. Eventually, he has the power to the building shut off, and all hell breaks lose.

2) Peck shows up with a crackling Geiger counter, and they explain what everything does. Peck writes a policy memo, and after careful consideration the Ghostbusters are told they need to build another permanent trap with redundant power in the middle of nowhere, and their NYC trap needs emptied periodically.

Case 1 makes the GBs look like a bunch of unconcerned assholes. Case 2 is just plain boring.

[Jonathan101]

Peck was wrong because a reasonable inspector would either undermine the protagonists or kill the climax of the movie. I mean, these are two plausible scenarios:

1) Peck shows up with a crackling Geiger counter and Venkman drives him off. Peck keeps requesting they submit to inspection, and they refuse in a comic manner. Eventually, he has the power to the building shut off, and all hell breaks lose.

2) Peck shows up with a crackling Geiger counter, and they explain what everything does. Peck writes a policy memo, and after careful consideration the Ghostbusters are told they need to build another permanent trap with redundant power in the middle of nowhere, and their NYC trap needs emptied periodically.

Case 1 makes the GBs look like a bunch of unconcerned assholes. Case 2 is just plain boring.

Why would he bring a Geiger counter?

He has no idea they are using unlicensed nuclear accelerators, and if he DID know that would actually undermine his belief that they are just a bunch of scam artists.

[FaxModem1]

I want to see the Ghostbusters version of Chernobyl. If only to show that regulations and government authority are supposed to be there for a reason, and people like Venkman should be nowhere near a nuclear reactor.

[Jonathan101]

I want to see the Ghostbusters version of Chernobyl. If only to show that regulations and government authority are supposed to be there for a reason, and people like Venkman should be nowhere near a nuclear reactor.

I mean...Chernobyl is all about government authority and regulations failing spectacularly though...