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How low can Dow go?

Lone survivor. This elderly woman was badly injured when exposed to the poisonous gas, but survived. Everyone else in her family died. Suffering from her injuries, she has an uncertain future. Enlarge Image

Dow shuns responsiblity for disaster

Dow Chemical is shunning their responsibility for cleaning up the worst industrial disaster in history. When they bought out Union Carbide, they only saw the assets it would bring, they turned a blind eye to the to the 8000 that died in the immediate aftermath of the explosion in Bhopal. They ignored the 20,000 people who have died from exposure-related illnesses since. They continue to ignore an estimated 120,000 who remain chronically ill. Their attention is focused firmly on the bottom line which just reported third quarter sales of US$ 7 billion.

Posting warning signs on the site of a toxic waste dump Enlarge Image

Playing with their future

Small children flying kites in the clear blue sky. Teenagers enjoying a game of cricket outside their homes while nearby water buffalo cool off in the local pond. Nothing from this scene portrays to me the dark fact that the land surrounding these local homes is polluted with deadly toxic chemicals. However this is one of many communities that live next door to the abandoned Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India and with the poisons left behind by the multinational chemical giant.

Greenpeace activists and locals are arrested before starting to clean up contamination site in Bhopal. Enlarge Image

Bhopal cleanup team arrested

Within a half hour of arriving on site to clean up Bhopal, around 60 protesters including local residents and Greenpeace activists were arrested. It was estimated that more than 100 police in riot gear swarmed over the peaceful action, which was taking place at the former Union Carbide factory, now owned by Dow, where a deadly gas leak in 1984 killed thousands and blinded and maimed thousands more. Former Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson has been wanted for culpable homicide for more than a decade for his role in the accident.

Victims of the Bhopal disaster protest outside Dow's headquarters in Bombay. Enlarge Image

Dow gets what it deserves

Eighteen years is a long time to wait for anything. If you are waiting for the day your drinking water is free of poisons, a time when you have more than a few dollars compensation to help relieve the pain of chronic illnesses and an environment not littered with toxic wastes, then it is an eternity. When the company responsible for 18 years of suffering is the world's richest chemical company there is a clear message - Dow clean up Bhopal now!

Bhopal activist Nity Jayaraman arrested in Bhopal. Enlarge Image

Charges dropped and apologies offered

Specialists and trained activists from the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal were brutally assaulted by the police last week when they entered the derelict Union Carbide factory site trying to contain a fraction of the tonnes of hazardous waste lying abandoned at the factory site. But now charges will be dropped and the brutal treatment acknowledged.

Greenpeace activists and Bhopal residents today placed a monument at the Dow headoffice in Terneuzen, Netherlands. Enlarge Image

Investment firms tell Dow to invest in Bhopal clean up

A group of socially responsible investment firms, with combined assets valued at $13 billion, are urging Dow Chemical Company to address the ongoing economic, health and environmental liabilities stemming from a poisonous gas leak in Bhopal, India in 1984, which has killed and injured tens of thousands of people.

Greenpeace activists on their way to Dow headquarters in the Netherlands to deliver a deadly cargo of waste from the Bhopal site in India, in big yellow barrels. From left to right: Rashida Bi, Bhopal survivor, Monique Harthoorn, Dutch campaigner, and Ganesh Nochur, Indian campaigner. Enlarge Image

Dow refuses to take back its waste

Activists from the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal wanted to give something back to Dow today: a few barrels of the waste the chemical giant refuses to clean up. Dow's response: arrests of over twenty activists.

Skulls of the victims of the disaster used to investigate the effects of the gas leak on the brain Enlarge Image

Take the message direct to Dow Chemical

Despite having received over 15,000 emails and many thousands of postcards and letters urging them to clean up their mess in Bhopal, India, Dow Chemical is continuing to ignore growing public outcry. We want that to change today and that is why we are asking you to join our international call-in to Dow.

Victims of the Bhopal disaster protest outside Dow's headquarters in Bombay. Enlarge Image

Bhopal protests move online

Dow Chemical is going to court soon in India. Not as the defendants for their ongoing responsibility for the Bhopal disaster, but as the plaintiffs. They're suing (we're not making this up) the SURVIVORS of the disaster for protesting at a Dow plant.

The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB) returns contaminated drinking water from Bhopal, India, to Dow Chemical's Texas headquarters. Enlarge Image

Bhopal waste returned to Dow

"Our message is simple," said Greenpeace's Casey Harrell. "Dow must clean up Bhopal now and accept full responsibility for the health and environmental damage in that city. Until it does so, Dow will never be a responsible corporate citizen."

Bhopal survivors and activists start their hunger strike on Wall Street. Enlarge Image

Hungry for justice

Eight days into an indefinite hunger strike, two survivors of the world's worst chemical disaster in Bhopal, India brought the disaster home to top executives of Dow Chemical. The survivors addressed shareholders and leadership at Dow's Annual General Meeting at its headquarters in the US , demanding that the company take responsibility for the health consequences and environmental impacts of its operations in Bhopal and other communities around the world that have been poisoned by Dow.

Greenpeace demands corporate responsibility from Dow Chemicals by holding a demonstration at the South Africa plant. Enlarge Image

Diane vs. Dow

"When you can smell your own fear you are on the right track." This is the slogan that Diane Wilson, a famed "shrimp-boat-captain-turned-activist and merciless scourge of Dow" lives by. But the only fear we smell in this case is Dow's.

Monica Gibbs lives next to a chemical plant in south Louisiana and needs to wear a breathing mask. She has suffered from respiratory problems since birth. Her town is part of the infamous 'cancer alley', so called because of the huge number of chemical refineries in the area and illnesses related to the pollution from the plants. Enlarge Image

Dodgy deals and irresponsible care

A recently leaked document has revealed the secret plans of the American Chemistry Council to trash anti-pollution laws in California. The internal memo, a proposal from PR firm Nichols-Dezenhall, outlines tactics such as the creation of phoney front groups and spying on activists to undermine pioneering laws that protect the environment. Unfortunately the Chemistry Council is just one of many industry front groups dedicated to making sure nothing interferes with corporate profits.

Celebrations on the streets of Bhopal. Now almost 20 years later all survivors will finally get meagre compensation. Full justice will require Dow Chemical to clean up the polluted site. Enlarge Image

Bhopal survivors continue fight for justice

India's Supreme Court has ordered the government to release millions of dollars in compensation for victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster. This, and other recent positive developments, are good news for the Bhopal survivors but far from the end of their battle for justice. Our Indian campaigner, Shailendra takes up the story.

The river in Midland now has a danger sign warning people of the pollutants in it. The pollution comes from the Dow plant upstream and Dow has refused to clean up its own pollution. Enlarge Image

Bhopal disaster - twenty years on II

Imagine waking up one morning to find that dangerous chemicals have contaminated your home and community, and that the culprits are ignoring your plight. That is the reality that both Paul and Ruby faced at a very early age. But rather than become victims, they chose to become warriors.

Local families play beside the river unaware that it is being polluted by effluent from Dow's plant up stream. Enlarge Image

Bhopal disaster - twenty years on III

On different continents in two very different communities, Paul and Ruby are battling Dow Chemical's refusal to take responsibility for its legacy of pollution, shady dealings and disregard for human life. In Part 3 of our feature, we hear from Paul and Ruby as they strengthen their resolve to keep up the fight - wherever they are in the world.

Skulls discarded after research at the Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal. Medical experts believe that the gas inhaled by the people of Bhopal may have affected the brain. Enlarge Image

Nightmare in Bhopal

This December 3rd marks the 20th anniversary of the world's worst industrial disaster. Twenty years later, the legacy of tragedy continues. This is a story of the struggle of ordinary people asserting their basic human rights in the face of the power and greed of a giant multinational corporation.

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Latest Update

March 10, 2003: The Yesmen stage Virtual Sit-in at Dow propaganda site to support the victims.