Warren Anderson, former Chief Executive Officer of Union Carbide, at his door in Bridgehampton, Long Island, New York.
Internal Union Carbide documents, (1) made public today by the
International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (2), reveal that Union
Carbide knew for over a decade that the 1984 Bhopal disaster site
and drinking water that supplies nearby communities was severely
contaminated with toxic chemicals, yet claimed it was clean.
The confidential documents, written by the company in the years
after the disaster, that killed 8,000 people and injured half a
million in Bhopal, India after gas leaked from its pesticide plant,
were obtained from the U.S. courts following a discovery motion
during a class action suit against Anderson and Union Carbide.
(2)
"These documents throw light on an unfolding corporate crime.
It's chilling to read how Union Carbide set about a corporate cover
up to evade its liabilities in Bhopal. The company publicly
insisted the site was clean for years rather than issuing warnings
to people living near the plant and cleaning it up," said
Ananthapadmanabhan, Executive Director of Greenpeace India.
The documents show that Union Carbide and its former Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) Warren Anderson, continued to assert there
was no contamination in and around its factory site in Bhopal, even
though its own studies found contamination there in "substantial
quantities". Tests conducted by the U.S. multinational in June-July
1989, five years after a gas leak, found levels of napthol and
Sevin "in quantities far more than permitted by ISI for on land
disposal" in a majority of liquid samples. Levels of contamination
were so severe that "all the samples caused 100% mortality to fish
in toxicity assessment studies."
Instead of acting on its findings, Union Carbide repeatedly
cited another study,(3) that today's documents show it thought to
be unreliable, to misinform the public and the government of Madhya
Pradesh, the state in which Bhopal is located, that "no
contamination of soil and ground water was observed". (doc
reference: UCC 034585).
"This is a shocking example of a corporate crime, one that has
not only manipulated a government but that has further abused the
human rights of an already traumatized community, " added
Ananthapadmanabhan.
Dow Chemical, the new owners of Union Carbide, today refuses to
accept responsibility for the ongoing disaster caused by Union
Carbide in Bhopal. Although it has shouldered the costs for
Carbide's crimes before (4), it's CEO, Michael Parker, insists that
Union Carbide "has done what it needs to do to pursue the correct
environment, health and safety programs" in Bhopal. Yet people in
Bhopal have been exposed to the poisons Union Carbide abandoned
there for eighteen years. 120,000 people there still need urgent
medical attention and they are now finding the impacts of the gas
exposure is being passed on to their children.
Survivor of the Bhopal gas disaster, Rashida Bi, concluded: "In
light of this new evidence, any further claims by Dow Chemical that
Union Carbide did all it could in Bhopal would be shameful. The
Bhopal disaster will not end until Dow accepts its responsibilities
in Bhopal, cleans up the contamination, and provides the people
there with medical assistance, clean running water and proper
compensation."
VVPR info: Photos and video of Bhopal and Greenpeace activities there are available on request.
Notes: (1) The documents, "Presence of Toxic Ingredients in Soil/ Water Samples Inside Plant Premises" can be seen on:http://www.bhopal.net/welcome2.html(2) Discovery of the new documents comes from a Class action suit ongoing in the Federal Southern District Court of New York(3) The report was carried out by the Indian governmental National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) but overseen by an external U.S. company employed by Union Carbide. (4) In January 2002, Dow accepted Union Carbide's liabilities in the U.S. and settled and asbestos suit in Texas, originally filed against Union Carbide. On 19th November, Greenpeace and survivors of the gas disaster cordoned off an area of land in a densely populated part of the city near the Union Carbide factory site and set up signs warning people that it is 'Poisoned and awaiting Dow clean up'. See the Greenpeace website for details Greenpeace is working in Bhopal as member of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal. Members include: Bhopal Action Resource Center USA, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationary Karmachari Sangh India, Bhopal Group for Information and Action India, Bhopal Information Network Japan, Center for Health & Environment USA, Corpwatch India, Essential Action USA, Ecology Centre of Michigan USA, Environmental Health Fund USA, Environmental Health Watch USA, National Campaign for Justice in Bhopal India, Pesticide Action Network USA, The Other Media India, UK Campaign for Justice in Bhopal.