Bhopal, India, Dow Chemical, And The Union Carbide Gas Leak
More than twenty-five years ago one of the most horrendous environmental disasters of all time occurred in Bhopal in Madya Pradesh county, India
. And the victims of this disaster, as well as their descendents, are still paying for it.
Shortly after midnight on December 3, 1984, a poisonous gas cloud escaped from the pesticide factory owned by Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL). The cloud, which covered an area in excess of thirty square miles, contained 15 metric tons of MIC (methyl isocyanate).
Within moments at least 4,000 of the local residents were dead. Bodies immediately started piling up in the streets. Then, in the years that followed at least 15,000, and as many as 30,000 more people perished as a result of the gas leak.
In addition, health problems such as oedema became part of the daily lives of from 50,000 to 500,000 of the "survivors". Thousands of these people suffered in agony with permanent health problems and many were blinded. In addition, a lot of the survivors passed their health problems down to their children because of the congenital defects that were caused by the gas.
This is what apparently happened on that fateful night. It seems that somehow water entered into the MIC storage tanks. This caused an exothermal reaction. As a result enough poisonous gas was released to open up the safety valves.
The scrubbers that would normally intercept the escaping gas were being repaired and were out of order.
Since the disaster research has shown that personnel in the factory neglected to take several safety procedures. Both the flaring installation that could have flared the poisonous gas as well as the tanks' cooling installation was out of order. These procedures were neglected because the budget had been cut at the plant.
Union Carbide, who denied any responsibility on their website, was accused of deliberately evading regular safety procedures. Documents were revealed during lawsuits that proved that Union Carbide, on a regular basis, used technology that had not been tested in the Bhopal factory.
Then, when the gas had leaked, doctors weren't informed about the nature of the deadly gas. Because of that emergency measures as well as the correct treatments were delayed.
Union Carbide stated that, "The Bhopal plant was owned and operated by Union Carbide India, Limited (UCIL), an Indian company in which Union Carbide Corporation held just over half the stock. The other stockholders included Indian financial institutions and thousands of private investors in India. The plant was designed, built, and managed by UCIL using Indian consultants and workers."
The company also stated that, "A thorough investigation was conducted by the engineering consulting firm Arthur D. Little. Its conclusion: the gas leak could only have been caused by deliberate sabotage. Someone purposely put water in the gas storage tank, causing a massive chemical reaction. Process safety systems had been put in place that would have kept the water from entering into the tank by accident."
However, in February 1980 Union Carbide promised to pay $470 million compensation. Unfortunately, only a small amount was paid to the survivors of this horrible disaster.
The company says that they had paid the entire amount to the Indian government within ten days.
The Supreme Court, in 2004, forced the Indian government to pay the additional $330 million of compensation to the victims and the families of the victims.
In 2001 Union Carbide sold this factory to Dow Chemical Company.
Today the area is still polluted. Mercury and hexachlorobenzene are amongst the thousands of tons of toxic chemicals that are being stored in barrels that are open to the elements.
When it rains the pollutants flow out of these barrels and pollute the nearby sources of drinking water. BBC research has indicated that some of these wells have up to five hundred times the legal limit of toxins.
The site still leaks deadly chemicals into the soil, air, and water. Environmental activists are still trying to convince Dow Chemical Company to clean up this toxic wasteland.
by: Wendy Moyer
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