Homicide OK -- trespassing, no way

A hazardous materials team intended to safely contain a stockpile of toxic pesticides and contaminated soil, then contact Dow to finish the job.

US activist Stephanie Hillman explained, "We started to clean up Bhopal to show Dow Chemicals that the toxic waste abandoned here can and should be cleaned up."

The activists, from 14 countries, intended to expose 18 years of suffering and inaction at the world's worst corporate crime site, which is still poisoning the drinking water supplies of the region.

The site is littered with hundreds of tonnes of deadly chemicals that Union Carbide left behind when it fled India after the gas leak in 1984 which has killed 20,000 people to date and injured half a million. The well water that the community around the abandoned factory uses everyday literally stinks of the poisons bleeding from the waste on site.

While Dow remains inactive, one person a day dies in Bhopal due to the continuing effects of the deadly gas leak. The lack of proper compensation and medical care of survivors continues to kill and the deadly chemicals dumped on site slowly poison the surrounding areas.

"It's Dow, as the new owners of Union Carbide, that's behaving criminally by leaving these dangerous materials here, not these peaceful protestors. The government of India should welcome the protestors' efforts to protect people in Bhopal and make sure Dow accepts its responsibilities. They should have assisted them, rather than arresting and beating them," said Satinath Sarangi, of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action.

More:

View the three part slideshow on the Bhopal disaster:

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?

View a series of cinema ads produced by Greenpeace and the International Campaign for Justice for Bhopal. Also, be sure to view our short piece on the Bhopal tragedy and former Union Carbide CEO, and fugitive from justice, Warren Anderson. Visit our multimedia section.

Act:

You can help make Dow responsible for Bhopal, write to Dow and tell them to clean up their act.