Bhopal

Geographic Location

UNION CARBIDE: DISASTER AT BHOPAL

• In the early hours of Monday, Dec. 3, 1984, an explosion at the Union Carbide plant released a deadly cocktail of poison gas made up of methyl isocyanante, hydrogen cyanide, monomethyl amine, carbon monoxide and up to 20 other chemicals.

DISASTER AT BHOPAL

• A toxic cloud of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas enveloped the hundreds of shanties and huts surrounding a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India.

• The wind carried the clouds of gas out over the surrounding community, exposing more than 500,000 people to the poisons.

DISASTER AT BHOPAL

• Later, as the deadly cloud slowly drifted in the cool night air through streets in surrounding sections, sleeping residents awoke, coughing, choking, and rubbing painfully stinging eyes.

Impact on Human Life: Four Month Estimates

• Four months after the tragedy, the Indian government reported to its Parliament that 1,430 people had died.

Impact on Human Life: 1991 Estimates

• In 1991 the official Indian government panel charged with tabulating deaths and injuries updated the count to more than 3,800 dead and approximately 11,000 with disabilities.

Impact on Human Life: 1999 Estimates

• By 1999, the toxic gas killed at least 16,000 according to local estimates; tens of thousands continue to suffer.

Cause for the Disaster: Indian Officials

• Indian officials contend the incident occurred during routine maintenance operations at the factory when a large quantity of water entered one of the storage tanks through leaking valves and corroded pipes, triggering a runaway reaction.

Cause for the Disaster: Union Carbide Officials

• Union Carbide contends, the gas was formed when a disgruntled plant employee, apparently bent on spoiling a batch of methyl isocyanate, added water to a storage tank.

– The water caused a reaction that built up heat and pressure in the tank, quickly transforming the chemical compound into a lethal gas that escaped.

Union Carbide India Limited

• The plant was operated by Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL), just over 50 percent of which was owned by Union Carbide Corporation.

• In the late 1960's, operations at Bhopal packaged the pesticide Sevin, then considered an environmentally-preferred alternative to DDT.

Methyl Isocyanate

• Later, the Bhopal plant started handling methyl isocyanate shipped from the United States.

• The process, which reacted methyl isocyanate with another compound, was considered the leading technology for producing Sevin and another pesticide, Temik.

Self-sufficiency

• The development was part of an active Indian government effort to achieve industrial self-sufficiency.

• Ultimately, in the late 1970s those government objectives led to the construction of a plant for manufacturing methyl isocyanate at Bhopal.

Bophal Workforce

• In 1984, the entire work force at the Bhopal plant was Indian.

• In keeping with the government's interest in promoting self-sufficiency and local control, the last American employed at the site had left two years before.

Compensation

• All personal injury and related claims were settled in 1989 by Union Carbide

• At that time, the company paid US$470 million as part of an out-of-court settlement that granted company officials immunity from prosecution.

• India's supreme court later struck down the immunity clause, but let the settlement stand.

Payments

• The claimants who have received payments have been paid only US $600 for injuries or less than US $3,000 in case of death.

• Many others have received no compensation.

1999 Lawsuit

• In 1999, lawyers have filed a class action lawsuit in New York charging the corporation with violating the fundamental human rights of the victims and survivors of the disaster.

• The lawsuit alleges that Union Carbide "demonstrated a reckless and depraved indifference to human life in the design, operation and maintenance" of the Union Carbide facility in Bhopal.

Effects of the Release Today

• The Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGIA) and other groups representing the victims say that over 120,000 survivors are still in need of medical attention.

• Ten to 15 people die each month due to injuries and illness caused by the disaster.

Release of Information

• Representatives of the groups charge that Union Carbide continues to withhold information on the composition of the leaked gases and their effects on humans.

• Although such information is needed for proper diagnosis and care, Union Carbide maintains that these facts are trade secrets.