Union Carbide

Union Carbide Corporation, headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut, is a United States chemical manufacturer, now a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company. The company is most well-known for the Bhopal disaster in 1984, in which the leakage of the highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate (MIC) killed thousands in Bhopal, India.

The chairman Warren Anderson was charged with culpable homicide in India for this tragedy, though he now lives freely in the USA. He is now a declared abscond and a fugitive in Indian courts, against whom India is seeking an extradition ruling from the United States.

Though it reached an out of court settlement with the government of India, Union Carbide refused to accept responsibility for the disaster, blaming it on terrorism and industrial sabotage.

Company history

The Union Carbide Company was founded in 1898, and in 1917 the Union Carbide & Carbon Corporation was formed from this and other companies. For most of its early history, the company was closely identified with the state of West Virginia, and had major operations in the region surrounding the state's capital, Charleston, although its headquarters had moved to New York City early in its history, and later to the Connecticut suburbs. The company still has a significant presence in South Charleston, though greatly reduced from its peak as an independent company.

A hydro-electric project just east of Charleston at Gauley Bridge, West Virginia became known as the Hawk's Nest Incident. During construction of a three mile-long tunnel by Union Carbide beginning in 1927, the tunnel was filled with silica dust. Workers were not given masks for protection, even though management wore such masks during the short times they visited for inspection. As a result, thousands of workers, mostly poor and black, died from silicosis, sometimes as quickly as within a single year.

The Bakelite Corporation merged with Union Carbide in 1939. This company was founded by Dr. Leo Baekeland, a pioneer in plastics (specifically Bakelite).

In 1997 Union Carbide and the Exxon Chemical Company began a cooperative enterprise with research into polyethylene production.

They became a fully owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company on February 6, 2001.

The Accident, the Response and the Settlement

Around midnight on December 3 1984, methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) plant in Bhopal, India. Two hours after plant workers discovered the leak, the plant started the toxic gas siren Chouhan, T.R. et al, Bhaopal: The Inside Story -- Carbide WOrkers Speak Out on the World's Worst Industrial Disaster . According to the state government, approximately 3,800 people died and several thousand other individuals experienced permanent or partial disabilities. Other sources, including Amnesty International, have placed the initial deaths at 7,000, rising to 15,000 within a year, and around 100,000 suffering from debilitating disability.

Shortly after the gas release, UCC sent engineers to identify the cause of the leak. Their initial investigation reported that a large volume of water had been introduced into the MIC tank and caused a chemical reaction forcing the chemical release valve to open and allowing the gas to leak; the governmental investigation reached the same conclusion. An independent investigation by the engineering consulting firm Arthur D. Little determined that the water could only have been deliberately introduced into the tank, since safety systems were in place and operational that would have prevented water from entering the tank by accident, though this non-peer reviewed theory has been vehemently refuted. see Bhaopal: The Inside Story -- Carbide Workers Speak Out on the World's Worst Industrial Disaster as well as Dembo,D, Morehouse, W Abuse of Power: Social Performance of Multinational Corporations However, various safety measures that should have been in place to prevent water comtamination were not implemented, and faulty gauges due to poor maintenance led workers to believe that there was nothing wrong at the time. Also, a leaking valve, also due to lack of maintenance, on the MIC tank allowed the water into the tank in the first place. Had this valve been operational, the water would never have entered the MIC tank, and the gas never released.

In the days, months and years following the disaster, company websites report see bhopal.com Union Carbide took the following actions to provide continuing aid:

Immediately provided approximately USD$2 million in aid to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund
Immediately and continuously provided medical equipment and supplies
Sent an international team of medical experts to Bhopal to provide expertise and assistance
Funded the attendance by Indian medical experts at special meetings on research and treatment for victims
Provided a $2.2 million grant to Arizona State University
Established a vocational-technical center in Bhopal (which was constructed and opened, but was later closed and leveled by the government)
Offered an initial $10 million to build a hospital in Bhopal; the offer was declined, provided an additional $5 million to the Indian Red Cross
Established an independent charitable trust for a Bhopal hospital and provided initial funding of approximately $20 million, upon the sale of its interest in UCIL and pursuant to a court order, provided approximately $90 million to the charitable trust for the hospital.

The settlement

As Union Carbide continued to provide interim relief funds and work with the Bhopal community on medical and economic aid, legal actions proceeded in both the U.S. and India. The courts ultimately ruled the proper forum for legal proceedings was India and the cases were consolidated and proceeded before the Supreme Court of India.

In May 1989, Union Carbide and Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) entered into a $470 million legal settlement with the Government of India, affirmed by the Supreme Court of India, resolving all claims. Ten days after the decision, Union Carbide and UCIL made full payment of the $470 million to the Indian government. The subsequent management of these funds has been subject to great debate ^{^*}

Notes

Resources

The Hawk's Nest Incident by Martin Cherniak (1986)

External links

UnionCarbide.com - Union Carbide Corporation homepage
Bhopal.com - 'Bhopal Information Center' (Union Carbide website about Bhopal's tragedy)
Bhopal.net - 'International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal'
UIUC.edu - 'About the Hawk's Nest Incident--Background for Muriel Rukeyser's The Book of the Dead', Ashley Lucas, Ariadne Paxton
amnestyusa.org - 'Amnesty International report about Bhopal disaster and ramifications'

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