Union Carbides History of Massacre

1
Union Carbides History of Massacre

• Union Carbide started out as a carbon company in
  1886 and diversified to gases and chemicals
  during World War.
• From the Manhattan project of World War II,
  until it relinquished its contract in 1984, Union
  Carbide was a contractor to the US federal
  government's nuclear weapons production.
• Before Bhopal, Union Carbide Corporation caused
  the largest industrial disaster in the US. In the
  construction of the Hawk's Nest Tunnel in West
  Virginia in 1934 nearly 2000 company workers,
  most of them black, died of Silicosis - an
  occupational disease caused by hazardous working
  conditions.

2
Conti.

• At the Cimanggis plant in  Indonesia at one point
  in 1978, 402 employees more than half the work
  force of 750), were suffering from kidney disease
  attributable to workplace contamination according
  to the company's doctor Dr.Maizar Syafei. She was
  asked by the company not to tell the workers that
  there was mercury in their drinking water or else
  the workers "would become anxious."
• As part of UCC's economy drive, the management at
  the Bhopal plant had switched off the
  refrigeration unit to save about Rs.700 (US 50)
  per day. Had the refrigeration unit been working,
  a runaway reaction in the MIC tank could've been
  delayed or even prevented.

3
Double Standards

• At the W Virginia plant all the vital systems
  had back-ups and were automatically linked to
  computerized alarms and crises control systems.
  The Bhopal plant not only lacked all the above
  but the sole manual alarm was also switched off
  so as not to 'unduly' alarm people.
• All over Europe the maximum permissible storage
  limit for MIC is half a ton. At the Bhopal plant,
  the US company's management overrode the wishes
  of the managers of its Indian subsidiary and kept
  the storage capacity hazardously high at over 90
  tons. On the night of the disaster, 67 tons of
  MIC were stored in two tanks.

4
Conti..

• The first time the management of the Carbide
  plant came to know about the leak was at 1100
  pm. The factory alarm meant for workers was
  started by a desperate worker at 1250 pm. The
  management not only turned it off within minutes
  but also delayed the sounding of the public siren
  until as late as 200pm by which time all the gas
  that could  leak had leaked.

5
Long History of Violation

• Union Carbide is the first company in the US to
  violate laws relating to providing information on
  chemicals used in a facility. The company claimed
  Trade Secrecy Protection in refusing to identify
  one of the key chemicals used in its plant at
  Henderson, Kentucky.
• Using the same cover, UCC continues to withhold
  vital information about the exact nature and
  composition of the leaked gases and its effects
  on the human system. After 15 years, this is
  still one of the prime reasons for the absence of
  a proper line of medical care for the victims.

6
After the disaster

• On the night of the disaster when people poured
  into hospitals by thousands, their eyes and lungs
  in burning choking agony, and urine and faeces
  running down their legs, the doctors called up
  the Plant Medical Officer to find out what they
  ought to do.
• They were told that the gas is like tear gas.
  "Just wash with water." J.Mukund, the Works
  Manager and Jackson B Browning, Director of
  Health, Safety and Environmental Affairs, Union
  Carbide Corporations, continued to refer to the
  poisonous chemicals that had till that date,
  killed over 8000 people, as "nothing more than
  potent tear gas."

7
Union Carbide's Toxic Legacy

• Nearly one-fifth of the exposed population of
  500,000 today suffers from a whole host of
  maladies like lung fibrosis, impaired vision,
  bronchial asthma, TB, breathlessness, loss of
  appetite, severe body pains, painful and
  irregular menstrual cycles, recurrent fever,
  persistent cough, neurological disorders,
  fatigue, weakness, anxiety and depression. Cancer
  and sterility are on the rise according to
  doctors involved in the treatment of the
  survivors.
• Researchers have found chromosomal aberrations
  in the exposed population indicating a strong
  likelihood of congenital malformations in the
  generations to come.

8
Corporate Criminals-Dow mergers with Union Carbide

• Dow, since its merger with Union Carbide, has
  refused to assume these liabilities in India,
  despite the fact that over 20,000 people in the
  vicinity of the Union Carbide factory continue to
  be exposed to toxic chemicals through groundwater
  and soil contamination.
• This stands in stark contrast to Dow's
  acceptance of Union Carbide's liabilities in
  Texas, where they recently settled an
  asbestos-related lawsuit.