Title: Bhopal, India 1984
1Bhopal, India 1984
2Location
- Bhopal is capitol city to the Indian state,
Madhya Pradesh.
Bhopal
3Time Line
http//www.bhopal.com/chrono.htm
December 4th Union Carbide organizes a team of
international medical experts, as well as
supplies and equipment, to work with the local
Bhopal medical community.
Union Carbide is fined 470 million, and pays in
full 10 days after the sentence is given. The
settlement was agreed upon by both UC and the
Courts of India.
A public hospital being built in the previous
years in now open and begins treating patients.
Union Carbide offers financial, vocational, and
humanitarian relief.
1989-90
1985-86
2001
2006
1984
1987-88
1991-92
After Midnight, December 3rd Methyl Isocyanate
(MIC) gas leaks from a tank and 3,800 people die
and many others experience difficulties
December 14th Warren Anderson, Chairman and CEO,
testifies before Congress.
Courts in India, and the U.S. begin the giant
legal battles. Independent investigation by
engineering and consulting firm Arthur D. Little,
Inc., concludes that the gas leak could only have
been caused by sabotage someone intentionally
connected a water hose to the gas storage tank
and caused a massive chemical reaction.
Supreme Court confirms the settlement and closes
legal proceedings. UCC announces plans to sell
its 50.9 percent interest in UCIL. UCC
establishes charitable trust to ensure its share
of the funding to build a hospital in Bhopal and
fund operations for up to eight years.
Madhya Pradesh State Government to prepare
drinking water, healthcare, environmental
rehabilitation plan.
4Death Tolls
- According to Union Carbide
- 3,800 immediate deaths
- 40 with permanent disabilities
- 2,800 with partial disabilities
- According to The International Campaign for
Justice in Bhopal - 495,000 classified as injured
- 22,000 permanently disabled
- 3,000 seriously,
- 8,500 temporarily disabled
- Even today, according to the campaign, evaluation
continues 15,000 death claims and more than
560,000 injury claims have so far been granted.
5Related Illnesses
- Pulmonary Edema
- Chest Pain
- Lacrimation, teary eyes
- Eyelid edema
- Coughing
- Dsypnea, difficult breathing
- Cardiac Arrest
- Unconsciousness
6Dow Chemical Company
- The Dow Chemical Company is currently the second
largest chemical manufacturer in the World (after
BASF) - Dow Chemical is a major provider of plastics,
chemicals, and agricultural products. - In 1999, Dow purchased Union Carbide, which is
now a wholly owned subsidiary. Dow denies legal
liability for the disaster, since it did not own
or operate the Bhopal factory. - A major manufacturer of silicone breast implants,
Dow Corning was successfully sued in 1977 for
damages arising from a woman whose implants
ruptured it was the first such successful suit,
and Dow Corning paid 170,000 in a settlement. - During the Vietnam War, Dow invented, and then
became the sole supplier of napalm to the
United States military.
7Dow, continued
- Dow manufactured Agent Orange, a chemical
containing dioxin, for use by the U.S. military
during the Vietnam War the dioxins made their
way into the food chain and were linked to a
major increase in birth defects among Vietnamese
people. - Chlorpyrifos is well known as a home and garden
insecticide, and until 2000 it was one of the
most widely used household pesticides in the US.
The pesticide is also a nerve toxin and suspected
endocrine disruptor and has been associated with
cancer, reproductive and developmental poisoning,
and acute poisoning.
8Pictures