Bhopal Disaster Essay ⋆ Business Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

In 1977 Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) set up a manufacturing facility in Bhopal, a city of some 900,000 inhabitants in Madhya Pradesh, India. It was licensed by the Madhya Pradesh Government to manufacture phosgene, monomethylamine (MMA), methylisocyanate (MIC), and the pesticide carbaryl, also known as Sevin. The plant was located in an urban area in the center of the city, despite the existence of an industrial area that had been set aside for such hazardous undertakings. The site was near a lake that provided an essential water source.

On the night of December 2, 1984, one of the world’s worst industrial disasters occurred at the plant. Water inadvertently entered the MIC storage tank. Safety systems could not contain the gases that formed as a result of the heat generated by the chemical reaction. The leak was first detected at 11:30 p.m. by workers whose eyes had begun to burn. The supervisor was informed, but action was not taken immediately. About 40 tons of MIC escaped into the densely populated surrounding area over a period of two hours.

There was no warning because the emergency alarm designed to warn of the rising temperature in the MIC tank had been switched off. Indeed, the temperature and pressure gauges were so unreliable that workers often ignored potential warning signs. The impact on people living in the shanty settlements adjacent to the plant was devastating. Many died in their beds, others choked and vomited in the streets, and many more died later in hospitals. The main cause of death was respiratory failure. The immediate aftermath saw 8,000 people killed.

Following the disaster it was discovered that the plant had been suffering from a number of other technical problems. The freon gas refrigeration unit designed to store MIC had been disconnected and the gas was being used elsewhere on site. The vent gas scrubber designed to neutralize escaping gas had been shut down for maintenance, though it would have been unable to cope with the gas in any event. The flare tower, designed to burn off the gas that escaped the vent gas scrubber, was also turned off, because a piece of corroded pipe needed replacing. The pressure on the water spray system, designed to reach points from which any gas was escaping, was too low and therefore ineffective. Union Carbide’s operational procedures also required the MIC tanks to be filled only to 50 percent of capacity. The Bhopal tank was filled to between 75 percent and 87 percent capacity. Another storage tank used to hold excess MIC was already full.

Ironically, a study conducted by a team from Union Carbide in 1982 noted that there was a serious potential for the release of toxic chemicals. Workers may also have been ill equipped to deal with the scale of the problem. Between 1980 and 1984, the crew for the MIC unit had been cut by 50 percent (from 12 to six) and the maintenance crew was cut 66 percent (from six to two). Many workers in key safety positions were not properly trained and the operating manuals were all in English.

Aftermath

Since 1984 more than 20,000 deaths have been attributed to the disaster and the effects are now extending into the next generation—150,000 of the survivors are reported to be chronically ill with long-term health effects ranging from cancer and tuberculosis to birth defects and chronic fevers. Local communities are continuing to drink groundwater contaminated with heavy metals and persistent organic contaminants because the dangerous chemicals left behind still have not been cleaned up.

The Indian government registered more than 600,000 claims against Union Carbide, which did not accept liability for the disaster. Union Carbide used tactics of delay of payment to victims and denial of any responsibility. They spent US$35–40 million on legal fees in connection with Bhopal. They argued that U.S. courts were not the appropriate place to deal with the issues but rather that the Indian courts were better placed to do so. This tied up the litigation for a year. Once back in India, they argued that the Indian courts were unsuitable to try such a complex issue. Union Carbide appealed every decision that went against it. This was essentially a neutralization technique that Union Carbide had previously used in a case brought against them in Long Island (New York) for polluting the local water supply.

Finally, in 1989, the government of India negotiated a $470 million compensation payment for the victims in an out-of-court settlement with Union Carbide. However, owing to bureaucratic inertia and the slowness of India’s legal system, in 2004 $325 million was still being held by India’s central bank in Mumbai. In July 2004 the Indian Supreme Court accepted the arguments from the victims and ordered the government to release this money. Amnesty International, in its 2004 Clouds of Injustice report, estimates the out-of-court settlement was a fraction of Union Carbide’s true liability by international norms.

In February 2001 Union Carbide became a full subsidiary of Dow Chemical, becoming the world’s biggest chemical company. In buying Union Carbide, Dow not only bought the company’s assets but also its liabilities. However, Dow Chemical continues to deny any liability. India continues to press for the extradition of Warren Anderson, Union Carbide’s chief executive at the time of the disaster.

Bibliography:

Jackson B. Browning, “Union Carbide: Disaster at Bhopal” in Crisis Response: Inside Stories on Managing Image Under Siege, Jack A. Gottschalk, ed. (Visible Ink, 1993);
Dembo, W. Morehouse, and L. Wykle, Abuse of Power: Social Performance of Multinational Corporations: The Case of Union Carbide (New Horizons Press, 1990);
Greenpeace, www.greenpeace.org.uk (cited March 2009);
Ashok S. Kalelkar, “Investigation of LargeMagnitude Incidents: Bhopal as a Case Study” (Arthur D. Little, Inc., 1988);
The Trade & Environment Database, “TED Case Studies: Bhopal Disaster,” www.american.edu/ ted (cited March 2009);
Union Carbide’s Bhopal Information Center, www.bhopal.com (cited March 2009).

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