<x-charset ISO-8859-1>Hey, esbuck, I didn't write that either! Oh well, never mind, in fact I'd wanted to do a piece on Bhopal for Journey to Forever's FYI section, but I didn't get that far, and we've stopped updating that section now, too much else on our plates. There's some good stuff there though: http://journeytoforever.org/index.html#FYI
>In a message dated 2/23/2004 7:30:44 AM Central Standard Time, >[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: >such as Union Carbide's metamorphosis into Dow >Chemicals after its corporate terrorism in Bhopal (1984). >As I understood it, there was terrorism, but not by Union Carbide. Someone >sabotaged the plant. Can you clue us in on what really happened? >Please? I'd >really like to know what happened and how and who was at fault. Damn... Sorry - same problem, a bulging file of info, 5.6Mb of it, 129 documents, have to pare it down. Yeah, well, okay... Bhopal was and still is today an appalling atrocity, still ongoing after 20 years, a major crime against humanity and something we all should know about. And be outraged about. So pardon my mumblings, I'm glad that you ask. You'll have to spend some time doing some research, but all the information is ready to hand, you just have to read it. The bald, bare facts are quite bad enough, but the full picture in all its sickening detail is far worse, and it's important to get the full picture. I hope your stomach is strong. It's not at all what you think - the "sabotage" story is just a part of the considerable amount of disinfo and evasion generated by UC/Dow, and even were it true, what the saboteur is alleged to have done should not have had those results, it should have been 100% impossible. Instead, it was just waiting to happen, and the company knew it. - Though the design of the methyl isocyanate (MIC) unit at Bhopal was based on Union Carbide's West Virginia plant, grossly lower standards were employed in the selection of construction material, monitoring devices and safety systems. - Union Carbide wanted to save money. Accidental leaks from all the Bhopal units were frequent, and operators and workers were regularly exposed to different substances. The factory was running at a loss. In November 1984 the most important safety systems were either closed down or not functioning. - Between 1980 and 1984 the work crew of the MIC unit was halved from 12 to six workers, the maintenance crew from six to two workers. On December 26, 1981 a plant operator was killed by a phosgene gas leak. Another phosgene leak in January 1982 severely injured 28 workers and in October the same year MIC escaped from a broken valve and four workers were exposed to the chemical. The senior officials of the corporation, privy to a "business confidential" safety audit in May 1982, were well aware of 61 hazards, 30 of them major and 11 in the dangerous phosgene/MIC units. Remedial measures were then taken at Union Carbide's identical MIC plant in West Virginia but not in Bhopal. In Bhopal, prior to the disaster, environmental safety concerns by private citizens were responded to by legal threats from the company and repressive managerial measures were employed against workers who raised occupational health concerns. - Secret Union Carbide documents obtained by "discovery" during a class action suit brought by survivors against the company in New York, reveal that the technology used at the fatal Bhopal factory - including the crucial units manufacturing carbon monoxide and methyl isocyanate (MIC) - was unproven, and that the company knew it would pose unknown risks. The corporation knew the danger, but regarded it as an acceptable "business risk". - Senior Carbide officials, including ex-CEO Warren Anderson, not only knew about design defects and potential safety issues with the Bhopal factory, they actually authorised them. - On the night of the disaster, water (that was being used for washing the lines) entered the tank containing MIC through leaking valves. The refrigeration unit, which should have kept the MIC close to zero degrees centigrade, had been shut off by the company officials to save on electricity bills. The entrance of water in the tank, full of MIC at ambient temperature triggered off an exothermic runaway reaction an consequently the release of 27 tons of the lethal gas mixture. The safety systems, which in any case were not designed for such a runaway situation, were non-functioning and under repair. Lest the neighborhood community be "unduly alarmed", the siren in the factory had been switched off. Poison clouds from the Union Carbide factory enveloped an arc of over 20 square kilometers before the residents could run away from its deadly hold. - People woke up coughing, gasping for breath, their eyes burning. Many fell dead as they ran. Others succumbed at the hospitals where doctors were overwhelmed by the numbers and lacked information on the nature of the poisoning. By the third day of the disaster, an estimated 8,000 people had died from direct exposure to the gases and a further 500,000 were injured. Today, the number of deaths stands at 20,000. Of the approximately 520,000 people exposed to the poisonous gases, an estimated 120,000 remain chronically ill. - UC/Dow has ever since refused to provide the technical information required to treat the injured, claiming it is a "trade secret". - You'd think that by now the survivors would have received proper medical care, that they'd have been adequately compensated for their loss and their suffering, that somebody would have had to answer in court for what was done to them. On all counts, you'd be wrong. UC/Dow's "compensation" amounted to 7a day, for 18 years of suffering. On 7a day they've had to struggle against pain, breathlessness, giddiness, numb limbs, aching bodies, fevers, nausea, brain damage, cancers, anxiety attacks, menstrual chaos, depression and mental illness. Thirty people still die every month from the effects of the gas. - Meanwhile the drinking water of the same communities that were hit in 1984 is being poisoned by cancer- and birth-defect causing chemicals that lie in the open in the derelict factory, or were dumped on waste ground by the company for up to ten years after the disaster. Greenpeace found mercury at levels up to 6 million times what could have been predicted. - "As early as 1972, Carbide's American managers talked about the danger of ground-water pollution from that terrible factory", said Rashida Bi, leader of a Bhopal survivors organisation which is a plaintiff in the case. "They made their own proposals to stop it happening - and then ignored them. Instead, knowing the dangers, they set about dumping thousands of tonnes of solid and liquid chemical wastes into and outside the factory. They knew it would poison our water and our daily lives and they did it anyway." - In May 2002, faced with a demand by a delegation of Bhopal activists that Dow assume responsibility for cleaning up Carbide's deadly mess in Bhopal, Dow CEO Michael Parker suggested that a portion of the pitiful compensation Carbide paid to its Bhopal victims should be used to clean up the factory contamination. Dow-Carbide wants its victims to pay for cleaning up its mess. - The Journal of the American Medical Association published a ground-breaking study carried out by the Sambhavna Trust Clinic which conclusively proves that the poison gases released by Union Carbide's factory in Bhopal on December 3rd 1984 have had a severe medical impact on a generation unborn at the time of the disaster. The findings relate to physical abnormalities of male children born to women who breathed Carbide's gases. Unbelievably, the Indian tax payer has been left to pick up the costs of health care, economic support and social rehabilitation schemes. - The UC Bhopal factory is still a time-bomb, with tons of highly toxic chemicals and wastes simply dumped there without any precaution or maintenance. UC/Dow refuses to acknowledge this, saying it is India's responsibility. >While we're at the subject of corporate crimes, consider the City of New >York, which prohibited the use of asbestos insulation in the World >Trade Center >when they had only insulated the structure, against fire, up to the >44 th floor. > At that time, long before 9-11, the architect said, "If there's ever a fire >above the 44th floor, that building is coming down." Whose fault was it that >the buildings did not withstand an unusual fire above the 44th floor? Six times as many people were killed at Bhopal, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Have a look at a comparison of the compensation. This will give you some idea: American child brain-damaged by Dow-Carbide pesticide (Dursban): $10,000,000 Indian child brain-damaged by Dow-Carbide pesticide: $500 When asked if this was not a blatant example of double standards, Dow Public Affairs Leader Kathy Hunt said: "$500 is plenty good for an Indian." (Dursban has now been withdrawn from household use in the US, but Dow still markets it as "safe" in India.) For what sum did Carbide find it worth risking the life of a whole Indian city? Union Carbide stored liquid MIC in Bhopal in huge tanks, far in excess of what ever would have been permitted in the US. MIC is a dangerously volatile chemical and these tanks were supposed to be kept cooled to 0 deg C. It is known that for some months prior to the huge and fatal gas leak of December 1984, the refrigeration system had been switched off to save the cost of freon gas. For the last 18 years, survivors have wondered just how much the company must have been saving, to make it worth risking the lives of an entire Indian city. Now we know. The figure was $37.68 per day. http://www.bhopal.net/unproventechnology.html ---------- The details of environmental pollution at the Dow-Carbide Bhopal plant are appalling -- reading the 5,000-word report is chilling. It's impossible to imagine how anybody could behave this way: the charges of "carelessness", "ruthless disregard of safety", "criminal neglect", "environmental vandalism" are far too mild. Chernobyl might arguably be in worse shape, but Chernobyl was an accident. The atrocious mess at Bhopal was deliberate. And it's still poisoning people all the time. More than 20,000 people live close to the factory site. From the opening of the factory in 1969, toxic wastes were routinely dumped inside the site, both above and below ground. Huge amounts of waste were simply buried; hundreds of tonnes were not even buried. Much is "stored" in unidentified sacks. Storage tanks have burst, spilling tons of lethal chemicals. random sacks of waste, waste drums, chemical bottles and sundry hazardous items lie strewn in the open air around the surface of the three chief site disposal areas, where chemicals were routinely dumped into pits. According to former workers of the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, from December 1969 to December 1984 a massive amount of chemical substances formulated in the factory - including pesticides, solvents used in production, catalysts, and other substances as well as by- products - were routinely dumped in and around the factory grounds. These were in the form of solid, liquid and gas and caused pollution in the soil, water and air. Dumping of toxic materials continued even after the disaster in 1984. In 1995 the company poured Ortho-dichlorobenzenes directly into the ground by the north perimeter wall. Nearby residents attested that within weeks drinking water from the community tubewells became yellow and foul tasting. In 1977, Union Carbide built 14 hectares of Solar Evaporation Ponds 400 metres north of the factory and dumped chemical toxic wastes and by-products at these sites. Every year during the rainy season the ponds overflowed and contaminated large areas of farmland. Two nearby tubewells had to be abandoned because of the obnoxious smell and taste of the water. Also, toxic effluents were routinely discharged into an open sewage drain flowing past Jai Prakash Nagar, a community on the South side of the factory that was badly affected by the 1984 tragedy. In 1995 fountains of chemical wastewater were being pumped into the ponds. In 1996 management tried to cover up the environmental damage caused by the ponds: the toxic sludge was all dumped into one pond and covered over with farm soil, layers of polythene, and finally a concrete cover. The two other ponds were levelled (during which their black polythene liners were ruptured). Now, soil has eroded around the concrete covers allowing the surrounding water to become contaminated with toxic material. Following a 1996 study the Bhopal Municipal Corporation declared over 100 wells in the vicinity of the plant to be 'unfit for drinking'. No alternative provision was made. In 1999 Greenpeace International undertook the collection of 33 samples of soil and 22 samples of groundwater from in and around the factory site. After analysis of the samples, Greenpeace declared the site a "global toxic hotspot" (The Bhopal Legacy, Greenpeace Research Laboratories, University of Exeter, Nov. '99). They found heavy concentrations of carcinogenic chemicals and heavy metals like mercury. Mercury was found at between 20,000 to 6 million times the expected levels: and elemental mercury was discovered to be widely distributed across the plant premises. Twelve volatile organic compounds, most greatly exceeding EPA standard limits, were found to have seeped and continue to seep into the water supplies of an estimated 20, 000 people in the local area. A leaked government report in 1996 said this: "Water from tubewells in other parts of Bhopal were examined at this laboratory. However, chemical contamination was found only in these areas. The tubewells in these areas were tested five years back and at that time too the results showed chemical contamination. Hence, it is established that this pollution is due to chemicals used in the Union Carbide factory that have proven to be extremely harmful for health. Therefore the use of this water for drinking must be stopped immediately." Independent analysis in Boston and other studies all concur in a nightmarish picture of large amounts of lethal pollutants out of control in the local environment - and the local communities. Greenpeace concluded: "As a result of the ubiquitous presence of contaminants, the exposure of the communities surrounding the plants to complex mixtures of hazardous chemicals continues on a daily basis... long-term chronic exposure to mixtures of toxic synthetic chemicals and heavy metals is also likely to have serious consequences for the health and survival of the local population." The local communities suffer routine poisoning, and many of the chemicals involved have a bio-accumulative and carcinogenic nature. Local people suffer abdominal pain, skin lesions, dizziness, vomiting, constipation, indigestion, and burning sensations in the chest and stomach. Most of the children are born seriously underweight, weak, with discolored skin, suffering from multi-systemic health problems. Women complain of suppression of lactation and some stop lactating within one month of giving birth. Union Carbide, and now Dow, simply deny it all. Replying to Greenpeace's allegations in 1999, Union Carbide said it has had no information regarding the Bhopal plant site since it sold its stock in Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) more than five years before - neatly avoiding the fact that it had plenty of information up until 1994. And so on. Meanwhile, after taking over Union Carbide, Dow accepted Carbide's asbestos-related liabilities in the US (paying multi-million dollar damages) but refuses to accept Carbide's Indian responsibilities. ----- #1 corporate criminal, ex-UC CEO Warren Anderson, an international fugitive from charges of culpable homicide and an extradition order from the government of India for the past 12 years after jumping bail there, was unearthed in 2002 by a UK newspaper and Greenpeace living a life of luxury in New York State. American authorities had always insisted they did not know his whereabouts. "If a team of journalists and Greenpeace managed to track down India's most wanted man in a matter of days, how seriously have the U.S. authorities tried to find him all these years?" asked Greenpeace campaigner Casey Harrell in the U.S. Greenpeace videotaped Anderson and handed him a warrant for his arrest. He denied who he was and then ran inside the house. The journalists discovered that Anderson's local golf club subscription costs $2700 a year, more than five times what Union Carbide's victims in Bhopal got for a lifetime of illness and suffering. ----- Resources: http://www.bhopal.net/index.php The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal http://www.bhopal.net/oldsite/intro2.html Quick fact tour: The disaster How could it happen? Medical consequences Today in Bhopal Union Carbide's response Union Carbide's toxic legacy Long-term issues http://www.bhopal.net/oldsite/poisonpapers.html Carbide's Poison Papers Internal documents Union Carbide was forced to disclose during the ongoing Class action filed by Bhopal survivors in the Federal Southern District court of New York, which alleges that the company demonstrated reckless and depraved indifference to human life through its Bhopal operations. http://www.bhopal.org/welcome2.html Bhopal.Org Search for "Bhopal" here: http://www.panna.org/index.html?searchMode Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) A history of Union Carbide: http://www.rachel.org/bulletin/index.cfm?issue_ID=967 #170 - From Bhopal With Love, February 28, 1990 A history of Dow: https://www.corpwatch.org/news/PND.jsp?articleid=10008 Dow's Knowledge Factory http://www.greenpeace.org/features/details?features%5fid=81509 Bhopal disaster has no parallel in human history Tue 03 December 2002 INDIA/Bhopal http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/news/details?campaign%5fid= 3991&item%5fid=95486 Dow sues penniless Bhopal survivors Mon 23 December 2002 http://www.greenpeace.org/features/details?item_id=22039 Exposure: Portrait of a Corporate Crime Tue 13 August 2002 INDIA/Bhopal Slide shows: Part One - Immediate aftermath and the tragic effects of an avoidable disaster. Part Two - Devastating effects on local people still suffering almost 18 years later. Part Three - Suffering but not in silence- Will Dow listen to calls to clean up Bhopal? http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/extra/?forward%5fdestinatio n%5fanchor=%2finternational%5fen%2fcampaigns%2fintro%3fcampaign%255fid %3d3991&campaign%5fid=3991&forward%5fsource%5fanchor=Toxic%20hotspots% 20Introduction&item%5fid=157595 Bhopal Timeline You can also access "Bhopal Timeline" via the "Toxic hotspots" page: http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/campaigns/intro?campaign_id=3991 Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! 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