The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB) returned
contaminated drinking water from Bhopal, India, to Dow Chemical's
Texas headquarters today. Greenpeace activists blocked the
entrances to the Houston Dow Center after delivering 250 gallons of
contaminated water taken from wells in Bhopal, the site of the
world's worst industrial disaster. Protestors from Houston, Dallas,
Austin, Seattle, Winston-Salem, NC, and Washington, D.C., demanded
that Dow meet with Bhopal survivors to discuss their legitimate
grievances and that the company drop two civil suits it has filed
in India against Bhopal survivors.
"Our message is simple," said Casey Harrell, Greenpeace Toxics
Campaigner. "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."
On the night of December 2, 1984, lethal methyl isocyanate gas
spilled out from Union Carbide's pesticide factory in Bhopal,
killing more than 8,000 people within the first three days.
Following the leak, Union Carbide abandoned the plant, leaving
hundreds of tons of toxic chemicals behind to leach into the soil
and groundwater. Since the catastrophe, an estimated 20,000 people
have died and another 150,000 Bhopal residents require urgent
medical care. In 2001, Dow Chemical bought Union Carbide. Dow's
refusal to accept responsibility for the Bhopal disaster stands in
stark contrast to its acceptance of Union Carbide's liabilities in
the U.S., including Texas, where it recently set aside $2.2 billion
to settle asbestos-related claims.
"We have returned toxic waste from Bhopal to Dow in India, in
the Netherlands, in Thailand and in Switzerland. Now we are
returning this problem to Dow in the United States," said Champa
Devi, Secretary of BGPMSKS, one of the largest survivor
organizations. "Dow Chemical's reluctance so far to clean up the
contamination and take responsibility for its pending liabilities
in Bhopal is poisoning people daily and aggravating the suffering
of survivors and their children."
Company executives have refused to discuss the ongoing toxic
legacy in Bhopal or constructively respond to the needs of the
survivors. Adding insult to injury, Dow has filed lawsuits twice in
India against Bhopal survivors who held nonviolent demonstrations
against the company in Mumbai (Bombay) on the 17th and 18th
anniversaries of the disaster. Around the world, supporters of
Bhopal survivors are protesting Dow's attempted denial of free
speech by holding a "virtual sit-in" on Dow's propaganda site,
bhopal.com, this week.
The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal calls on Dow to
accept its pending legal liabilities in Bhopal, to clean up the
site, to release to the survivors the chemical composition of the
toxic gas, and to provide people with clean drinking water,
long-term medical care and full compensation. The Campaign is also
calling for international legislation to be put in place to make
sure companies, such as Dow, are held responsible for pollution or
accidents their operations cause, wherever they occur.