09
Dec
Remembering the Victims of the Bhopal Chemical Plant Explosion 40 Years Ago
(Beyond Pesticides, December 9, 2024) In recognition of the explosion of a chemical plant in Bhopal, India 40 years ago that was responsible for the death of 20,000 people, U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal introduced H.Res. 1604, “Recognizing the 40th year since the 1984 Bhopal chemical disaster and helping to ensure that no other community suffers another chemical disaster, by supporting the designation of December 3 as National Chemical Disaster Awareness Day” and calling for support of survivors of the disaster and promoting public understanding of the dangers of chemical disasters.
The Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) plant explosion released a cloud of highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas in the middle of the night, killing thousands of people immediately—estimates range from 1,754 to 10,000—and up to 20,000 subsequently. Estimates of the number suffering permanent disabilities or chronic disease range up to 95% of the affected population of 531,881. MIC is a precursor used in the manufacture of carbamate insecticides, including aldicarb, carbofuran, and carbaryl. In spite of this history and the many adverse effects of these extremely toxic pesticides and their precursors, EPA continues to register pesticides without considering cradle-to-grave risks.
After Bhopal
Amnesty International has provided the following history and perspective:
“Shockingly, it is not only people exposed to the gas directly who have been affected. Over the years that followed, a large number of children born to gas-exposed parents have been affected by growth retardation, birth defects and other medical conditions. Meanwhile, to this day, thousands of tons of toxic waste remain buried in and around the abandoned plant. This has contaminated residents’ water supplies and harmed their health, adding to the already dismal health status of gas-exposed residents. As well as the health impacts, the tragedy has pushed already impoverished communities into further destitution. In many families, the main wage earner died or became too ill to work. Women and children suffered disproportionately.”
“An unfortunate second lesson of the Bhopal tragedy is how easy it has been for UCC to escape accountability. Pitted against the largely poor victims of the gas disaster was the hugely powerful and enormously rich multinational corporation, which escaped providing the survivors, their children and grandchildren with adequate compensation and medical care.
The catastrophic gas leak was the foreseeable result of innumerable operational failures at the plant, but from the start, UCC’s response to the disaster was inadequate and callous. For example, although thousands of people were dying from gas exposure, or suffering agonizing injuries, UCC withheld critical information regarding MIC’s toxicological properties, undermining the effectiveness of the medical response. To this day, UCC has failed to name any of the chemicals and reaction products that leaked along with MIC on that fateful night.”
“In 1989, without consulting Bhopal Gas Tragedy survivors, the Indian government and UCC reached an out-of-court compensation settlement for $470 million. This amount was less than 15 percent of the initial amount sought by the government, and far less than most estimates of the damage at the time. Thousands of claims were not registered at all, including those of gas-exposed children under the age of 18, and children born to gas-affected parents who, time later showed, were also severely affected.”
“There have been numerous attempts to hold UCC and individuals to account, either through criminal or civil claim proceedings launched in India and the U.S. But these have had no or very limited results.”
“One challenge has been created by the restructuring of the business entities involved in the tragedy. UCC sold off the India-registered subsidiary that operated the plant. It was then, in turn, bought by another giant U.S. corporation, the Dow Chemical Company (Dow). To this day, Dow shamefully claims it bears no responsibility since it “never owned or operated the plant” and that UCC only became a subsidiary of Dow 16 years after the accident.”
“In 2010, the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court in Bhopal found seven Indian nationals, as well as UCC’s India-based subsidiary guilty of causing death by negligence. By contrast, U.S. individuals and companies have escaped punishment, and there is significant evidence that the U.S. authorities have helped protect them.”
“Companies have a responsibility to respect human rights wherever they operate. Dow may not have caused the gas leak, but it became directly linked to the tragedy after it bought UCC. The company boasts of following the highest human rights standards, but its continued failure to respond to the urgent needs of the survivors is utterly disgraceful.”
“But there is a third lesson to draw from the Bhopal Gas Tragedy and its aftermath. It can be found in the inspiring story of the survivor groups and their supporters, who over 40 years have refused to give up their fight for justice. They have initiated or intervened in many legal actions; conducted scientific research into the contamination and health impacts; and they have launched practical initiatives in the absence of sufficient state and corporate support. For example, in 1994, survivor groups fundraised for the Sambhavna Trust Clinic and they later opened the Chingari Rehabilitation Centre. Thousands of gas- and contamination-affected adults and children have benefitted from the highly specialized and professional medical care and rehabilitation provided by these institutions – unparalleled by any of the government-run facilities.”
Continuing Chemical Accidents with Dependency on Petrochemicals
Less than a year after the Bhopal tragedy, a cloud containing aldicarb oxime—which is combined with MIC to make aldicarb—leaked from a Union Carbide plant in Institute, WV. This time, at least 135 residents were treated for eye, throat, and lung irritation. In 1991, seven cars of a freight train derailed near Dunsmuir, CA. A tank car ruptured, dumping 19,000 gallons of the soil sterilant metam sodium into the Sacramento River. Several hundred people were hospitalized after inhaling fumes. The chemical causes birth defects and fetal death and is a known mutagen, so the total impact on human health is unknown. However, the chemical sterilized a 41-mile stretch of the river, killing over a million fish and thousands of trees. Such events are not in the distant past, as shown by the derailment of about 50 out of 141 cars on the Norfolk Southern train that exploded in a towering fireball over the town of East Palestine, OH in February 2023. Among the compounds on board those cars were “inert” pesticide ingredients (vinyl chloride, ethylhexyl acrylate, and isobutylene), an antimicrobial compound (ethylene glycol monobutyl ether [EGBE]), benzene (a carcinogenic solvent), and butyl acrylate. In 2022, train accidents resulted in releases of hazardous chemicals 11 times.
The incidents continue in 2024—including a chlorine leak from a fire at a BioLab facility near Atlanta, GA; hazardous materials released during the loading of a tractor-trailer at a hazardous waste processing facility in Coolidge, AZ that processes industrial wastes such as pesticides and other petrochemicals; and hundreds of facilities containing hazardous chemicals that were in the path of Hurricane Helene.
These examples show that the harm caused by pesticides goes far beyond the impacts to consumers, farmworkers, other organisms, air, water, and soil caused by the application of those poisons, which are also extensive. We are all potentially affected. In some cases, the damages caused by use alone have been shown many times to be, in the words of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), “unreasonable adverse effects.”
Organic growers know that soil biology and soil health are important to protect from diseases like citrus greening. The use of pesticides, on the other hand, destroys healthy soil biota.
EPA must include the hazards of the manufacture, transportation, and disposal of pesticides in judging whether they pose “unreasonable adverse effects on the environment”—compared to the use of organic practices.
>> Tell EPA that harm done in the manufacture, transportation, and disposal of pesticides must count as “unreasonable adverse effects.” Tell your Congressional Senators and Representative to support H.Res. 1604.
Letter to the U.S. House of Representatives
I am writing to request that you cosponsor H.Res. 1604, “Recognizing the 40th year since the 1984 Bhopal chemical disaster and helping to ensure that no other community suffers another chemical disaster, by supporting the designation of December 3 as National Chemical Disaster Awareness Day,” introduced by U.S. Representative Pramila Jaypal. In addition to seeking governmental engagement with “the survivors of the Bhopal chemical disaster to strengthen the public’s understanding of the dangers of chemical disasters,” the Resolution calls for U.S. support of India’s requests regarding the Dow Chemical facility in Bhopal where the explosion occurred and take actions necessary to comply with obligations under the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, signed at New Delhi on October 17, 2001.
Forty years ago this month, a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India released a cloud of highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas in the middle of the night, killing thousands of people immediately—estimates range from 1754 to 10,000—and up to 20,000 subsequently. Estimates of the number suffering permanent disabilities or chronic diseases range up to 500,000. MIC is a precursor used in the manufacture of carbamate insecticides, including aldicarb, carbofuran, and carbaryl.
Less than a year later, a cloud containing aldicarb oxime—which is combined with MIC to make aldicarb—leaked from a Union Carbide plant in Institute, WV, and at least 135 residents were treated for eye, throat, and lung irritation. In 1991, seven cars of a freight train derailed near Dunsmuir, CA, dumping 19,000 gallons of the soil sterilant metam sodium into the Sacramento River, resulting in the hospitalization of several hundred people, with unknown future impacts from birth defects, fetal death, and mutations. Miles of the river were sterilized, killing over a million fish and thousands of trees. In February 2023, about 50 out of 141 cars on a Norfolk Southern train exploded in a towering fireball over East Palestine, OH. Among the compounds on board those cars were “inert” pesticide ingredients, an antimicrobial compound, benzene, and butyl acrylate.
The incidents continue in 2024—including a chlorine leak from a fire at a BioLab facility near Atlanta, GA; hazardous materials released during the loading of a tractor-trailer at a hazardous waste processing facility in Coolidge, AZ that processes industrial wastes such as pesticides and other petrochemicals; and flooding of hundreds of facilities containing hazardous chemicals that were in the path of Hurricane Helene.
Thus, the harm caused by pesticides goes far beyond the impacts caused by the application of those poisons, which are also extensive. We are all potentially affected.
Organic growers know that soil biology and soil health are important to protection from diseases like citrus greening. The use of aldicarb, on the other hand, destroys healthy soil biota.
Please ensure that EPA includes the hazards of the manufacture, transportation, and disposal of pesticides in judging whether they pose “unreasonable adverse effects on the environment”—compared to the use of organic practices.
Again, please join with Rep. Jaypal in cosponsoring H.Res. 1604.
Thank you.
Letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Forty years ago this month, a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India released a cloud of highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas in the middle of the night, killing thousands of people immediately—estimates range from 1754 to 10,000—and up to 20,000 subsequently. Estimates of the number suffering permanent disabilities or chronic diseases range up to 500,000. MIC is a precursor used in the manufacture of carbamate insecticides, including aldicarb, carbofuran, and carbaryl.
Less than a year later, a cloud containing aldicarb oxime—which is combined with MIC to make aldicarb—leaked from a Union Carbide plant in Institute, WV, and at least 135 residents were treated for eye, throat, and lung irritation. In 1991, seven cars of a freight train derailed near Dunsmuir, CA, dumping 19,000 gallons of the soil sterilant metam sodium into the Sacramento River, resulting in the hospitalization of several hundred people, with unknown future impacts from birth defects, fetal death, and mutations. Miles of the river were sterilized, killing over a million fish and thousands of trees. In February 2023, about 50 out of 141 cars on a Norfolk Southern train exploded in a towering fireball over East Palestine, OH. Among the compounds on board those cars were “inert” pesticide ingredients, an antimicrobial compound, benzene, and butyl acrylate.
The incidents continue in 2024—including a chlorine leak from a fire at a BioLab facility near Atlanta, GA; hazardous materials released during the loading of a tractor-trailer at a hazardous waste processing facility in Coolidge, AZ that processes industrial wastes such as pesticides and other petrochemicals; and flooding of hundreds of facilities containing hazardous chemicals that were in the path of Hurricane Helene.
Thus, the harm caused by pesticides goes far beyond the impacts caused by the application of those poisons, which are also extensive. We are all potentially affected.
Organic growers know that soil biology and soil health are important to protection from diseases like citrus greening. The use of pesticides, on the other hand, destroys healthy soil biota.
EPA must include the hazards of the manufacture, transportation, and disposal of pesticides in judging whether they pose “unreasonable adverse effects on the environment”—compared to the use of organic practices.
Thank you.
Union Carbide must provide adequate support for survivors without delay.
December 12th, 2024 at 9:01 pm