After 18 years why is Bhopal still an issue?
Because 10-15 people still die every month from toxic exposure related illnesses. Almost 1, 20,000 - 1, 50,000 people continue to suffer from long term effects of MIC and other poisonous gas exposure. Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) and now its new owner Dow Chemical, has lied and subsequently refused to release vital information on the composition of the toxic gases and their effect on humans, right since the night of the disaster. Their excuse- "it's a trade secret." Doctors are unable to treat the survivors in the absence of this information.

But didn't Carbide pay up?
What was supposed to be a $3 billion settlement was reduced to $470 million dollars in an out of court closed settlement negotiated between the Government of India and the company without involving the survivors. This amounted to approximately $1170 for death and $520 for lifelong injury for those who actually got any. This amount is insufficient, unfair and unjust even by Indian standards. 95% of the victims have received a minimum of Rs.25,000. $280 million of the original settlement is still lying undistributed with the Government of India. Now on Dow Chemical's suggestion, the Government of India is attempting to use the survivors' compensation funds to clean up Carbide's toxic mess in and around the factory.

Did the compensation cover the current contamination issue?
No. At the time of the settlement people were unaware of the degree of contamination due to leakage of toxic effluents into the groundwater system. Even if the 1984 disaster had been averted, contamination of drinking water supplies would still be an issue today owing to bad housekeeping by Carbide. Over 10,000 people are forced to drink water laced with alarmingly high levels of mercury, dichlorobenzene, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride and other persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals. (See '99 Greenpeace report http://www.bhopal.net/documentlibrary/bhopal.pdf ) A recent study by Toxics Link, New Delhi found traces of lead and mercury in the breast milk of women living in these communities.

Why should Dow clean up the factory site? Isn't it the government's job?
Under the original land lease agreement, Carbide was supposed to clean up the factory site before giving it back to the government. It violated that agreement by abandoning the factory site after the disaster with thousands of tons of toxic waste lying around. Since Dow is now the new 100% owner of Carbide, under the US and Indian laws, it has inherited both Carbide's assets & liabilities. Additionally, the 'Polluter Pays' principle applies to such cases internationally. Asking the government to clean up, is essentially asking the taxpayers to bear the burden of corporate irresponsibility.

What is the current status of lawsuits in India and the United States?
In India, soon after the settlement in 1989, criminal immunity against Carbide was revoked and charges of 'culpable homicide' (an extraditable offence), were brought against the then CEO Warren Anderson, the company itself and nine other Indian officials. While the Indian officials appeared in court to face their criminal charges, Anderson jumped bail and was declared an absconder. He has never appeared in the court despite repeated summons. He was recently discovered by Greenpeace living a life of luxury in the Bridgehamptons, New York. In December 02, the prosecuting counsel sent papers for his extradition from the US, to the Ministry of External Affairs in India. In the US, in 1999, the survivors filed a class action lawsuit against the company and its officials in the appeals court in New York. The lawsuit seeks environmental damages on the bases that the company employed 'double-standards in the design and maintenance of the factory thus showing depraved indifference to human life.' This lawsuit was dismissed and reinstated by the NY Federal Appeals court in November 2001 and dismissed again in March 2003. It is being appealed again.

Is there any proof to support the allegation of double standards against the company?
Yes. As part of its cost-cutting measures, trainings were reduced from 6 months to 15 days and the supervisor on the night shift was laid off. On the night of the disaster, the following six basic safety measures were either not working, switched off or malfunctioning:
1. Flare tower disconnected
2. Vent gas scrubber out of caustic soda and anyway inadequate for the unsafe volume of gas
3. Water curtain not high enough
4. Pressure valve not working
5. Run off tank already contained MIC
6. Mandatory refrigeration for MIC unit turned off to save money

Most importantly, the MIC tank was more than 80% full with 40 tonnes of the lethal material. That's more than half the safe limit. In Europe the limit is half a tonne. Edward Munoz, who was an executive in UCIL, himself said that Indian managers had requested that only small amounts of it be stored in Bhopal and he had backed them up but their request was overruled by US managers. Compared to the company's MIC sister plant in West Virginia which had state-of-the-art-security systems, Bhopal had state-of-the-art technology.

In September 02, as part of the discoveries in the New York class action lawsuit, several documents were found with proof of Carbide's dangerous cost-cutting measures and its prior knowledge of the risk of contamination. (See http://www.bhopal.net/november.html#gassurvivors)

One document showed that Carbide had knowingly sent 'unproven, untested technology' to the MIC unit in Bhopal to save $8 million. Another bunch of documents showed the company's awareness of the risk of contamination right from the design stage of the unit in June of 1972. These discovery documents also proved that Carbide's own environmental consultant Arthur D Little had rejected the basis of Carbide's internal groundwater contamination studies which the company had been using as evidence in court and in their PR with stockholders and media.

Is there any proof to support Carbide's claims that the disaster was the result of sabotage by a disgruntled worker?
Carbide has neither ever named this fictitious worker nor brought any charges against him. They have also not allowed public scrutiny of the report that's supposed to have concluded sabotage. The Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research, an independent body, found a host of less simplistic causes such as unnecessary bulk storage of MIC, incautious design, poor materials, faulty alarms, inadequate system controls and safety back-up. Carbide's own 1985 study found the pressure valve header (PVH) was leaking and an earlier safety audit found others. Even the jumper line between the Relief Valve Vent Header (RVVH) and the PVH, connected in 1983 and which enabled water to enter the fatal Tank 610, was authorised in accordance with the UCC review process outlined in the 1973 memo (see http://www.chemicalindustryarchives.org/dirtysecrets/bhopal/index.asp).

What is the medical and social condition of the survivors?
The children of the survivors have inherited Union Carbide's toxic legacy. Babies are being born with deformities and chromosomal aberrations. Teenage girls complain of the most abnormal menstrual disorders including absence of periods even at the age of 18, and young women reach early menopause and often develop cervical cancer. Close to 1, 50,000 people are ravaged by a wide range of multi-systemic disorders including respiratory, neurological, gynecological and mental. Unable to keep their jobs most people have been reduced to daily wage work. And some do not even have the means to work.

What are the survivors' demands?
From Dow Chemical -
1. That Dow Chemical release vital medical information on composition of gases and its effect on humans
2. Provide complete medical, social and economic rehabilitation
3. Clean up the contaminated factory site including groundwater supplies
4. Dow officials, including ex-Carbide CEO Anderson, appear in Indian courts to face charges of 'culpable homicide'

From the Indian government -
5. That it distribute the remaining compensation funds to the affected population including orphaned and unregistered children
6. That the Indian Council for Medical Research release findings from all the 24 studies that were conducted on gas affected persons and were mysteriously shut down by 1992
7. That the government scrap the illegal & arbitrary announcement by Welfare Commissioner, Bhopal Gas Victims, that wrongfully denies compensation to over 10,000 victims
8. Support the Class Action suit filed by by the survivors against Carbide and Warren Anderson in the US
9. Take action against Union Carbide sponsored Bhopal Memorial Hospital Trust for unauthorized withdrawal and expenditure of funds meant for Bhopal victims
10. Set up regulatory mechanisms to ensure that reckless medication at the Bhopal Memorial Hospital Trust is stopped

What can you do to help?

• Call Dow and ask them to face their responsibilities & liabilities in Bhopal.
• If you know someone who owns Dow's stock, talk to them about the company's irresponsible stand and the shareholder's responsibility in demanding accountability from the company.
• If you are an Indian citizen, ask the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi to expedite Anderson's extradition.
• As an Indian citizen you can also demand that your government distribute the remaining compensation funds to the gas victims and transfer all of Carbide's criminal charges in India to Dow Chemical.

*ICJB is a global coalition of 20 environmental and social justice groups spearheaded by the women's survivor group Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Karmachari Stationery Sangh. Members include Bhopal Action Resource Center, USA, Bhopal Group for Information and Action, Bhopal Information Network, Japan, The Other Media, India, Environmental Health Fund,Boston, Corpwatch, Greenpeace Intl., Ecology Center MI, Pesticide Action Network North America & UK, Justice for Bhopal, Ann Arbor, Calhoun County Resource Watch.