Dow: be responsible for your mess.

Clean up Bhopal for Chinese New Year

Press release - 30 January, 2003

Greenpeace activists protest at the entrance of the Dow Chemicals factory in Tsing Yi, China today demanding that Dow admits liability for the Bhopal gas disaster and immediately cleans up the site to prevent further poisoning of local inhabitants.

Greenpeace today staged a protest at the entrance of the Dow Chemicals factory in Tsing Yi, demanding that Dow admits liability for the Bhopal gas disaster and immediately cleans up the site to prevent further poisoning of local inhabitants. According to Chinese tradition, every household busies itself cleaning out the mess from the old year before welcoming in the Chinese New Year. Greenpeace is demanding that Dow cleans up its mess too.

The lethal gas leak from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, took place on the night of 2 December, 1984 and killed up to 8,000 people within the first three days. After the disaster, Union Carbide abandoned the factory leaving large quantities of toxic chemicals behind. To date, 20,000 people have died as a result of the disaster and exposure to the lethal cocktail of toxic chemicals left in Bhopal and many more are still suffering from incurable diseases.

In 2001, Union Carbide announced it was shedding its tainted name by merging with Dow Chemical. For years Dow-Carbide has refused to bear the corporate liability for the gas disaster. It has failed to adequately compensate the victims, to provide them with proper medical care, clean water and to clean up the contaminated factory site.

Greenpeace activists dressed in white, portrayed Bhopal survivors who suffer incurable sicknesses from the toxic contamination they face everyday of their lives. Other activists displayed photos of the gas disaster victims. Two activists, dressed up as toxics treatment specialists, hoisted a banner reading "Dow: Be responsible, clean up Bhopal for Chinese New Year".

"Dow cannot shed the liability for the Bhopal disaster, as it did not merely buy the assets of Union Carbide but also its liabilities," said Apple Chan, Greenpeace campaigner.

At the end of the protest, the activists presented the signatures of members of the public that had been collected at Bhopal photo exhibitions in Hong Kong and Beijing, to the management of Dow urging them to take corporate responsibility for the Bhopal disaster.

Notes: Notes to editors: Greenpeace is a member of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, a coalition of concerned individuals and non-governmental organisations in India and around the world. Please visit : http://www.greenpeace-china.org.hk http://www.bhopal.net

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