As the article says, nobody really took issue with him quitting. They took issue with him pulling a scorched-earth approach on his way out.
No, this man was just petulant that after decades of not following employment/environmental/fire regulations, he was finally being held to them...and his answer was to burn everything to the ground out of petulance.
Dude, if I sell contaminated goods to person B, person B can sign a release that they won't sue me... but they can't promise that person C or government D won't.
Even if they indemnify me, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm off the hook.