Land-based Plant Disaster: Bhopal (Union Carbide) Gas Tragedy
by Yunki Jo | CEO
Last week, I posted an article regarding offshore oil rig accidents. Today, I will discuss about onshore accidents involving oil and gas plants.
As land-based industrial plants are constructed on the ground and generally located away from residential areas, the impact of accidents on society and the environment may not be as significant as offshore plants. However, large-scale accidents are bound to happen if a plant is constructed in a populated area, and when safety measures and common principles are disregarded.
Plant Ruins — https://www.indiatvnews.com/photos/india-34-years-of-1984-bhopal-gas-tragedy-488750/4
Overview
In the early hours of December 3, 1984, the people of Bhopal in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh experienced a catastrophic loss of life caused by a toxic gas leak from a fertilizer plant owned by the American company Union Carbide (now Dow Chemicals, which acquired Union Carbide for $9.3 billion in 1999).
Woken up by a sharp burning sensation in their eyes and noses, the residents of Bhopal had no idea what was happening as they began to vomit and experienced swelling of their stomachs, causing them to convulse and collapse in pain. The streets were filled with the corpses of everything that had been alive the day before, and humans were no exception. Nobody knew why they had to die, and they suffered a painful death without understanding the reason behind it.
The gas that claimed the lives of the residents was methyl isocyanate (MIC), a highly toxic substance mixed with phosgene and hydrogen cyanide gas used during World War I. MIC caused fatal damage, such as respiratory failure, central nervous system disorders, immune system disorders, and blindness, and killed everyone without any smell or visible appearance. Union Carbide leaked a staggering 39 tons of this toxic chemical gas.
Scale of Damage
Casualties
The effects of the Bhopal disaster have continued from the day the gas leaked until the present. On December 3, 1984, around 3,500 people lost their lives, and environmental activists reported that the death toll due to aftereffects had exceeded 33,000. Although the Indian government officially announced a death toll of 15,000 from aftereffects, it is difficult to trust their response. as I will explain later.
Approximately 583,000 people were exposed to the gas based on the number of people who claimed compensation for the damage. Among them, 120,000 suffered from chronic diseases such as blindness, respiratory problems, and gastrointestinal disorders, and 50,000 suffered from permanent disabilities. Moreover, the residents of Bhopal suffered from severe diseases such as tuberculosis, skin diseases, and disorders of the central nervous system and immune system. However, victims were unable to receive appropriate treatment because Union Carbide did not disclose research results on the effects of methyl isocyanate.
The aftermath of the disaster continues to affect people today. Children who survived the accident in 1984 and later had children of their own gave birth to a new generation of Bhopal’s children, many of whom have been born with various physical and mental disabilities, such as heart disease, deafness, and intellectual disabilities. (There are numerous distressing photos related to this issue available on the internet, but I cannot share them due to their graphic nature.)
Environmental Damage
The environmental damage caused by the Union Carbide gas leak incident is enormous. The level of mercury detected in the disaster area was up to 6 million times higher than the standard, and the residents of Bhopal had to drink water containing 12 toxic substances. As the water supply became contaminated, the incidence of diseases such as cancer and birth defects soared. Union Carbide, who acted extremely irresponsibly, left behind over 8,000 tons of toxic waste and left. The helpless citizens of Bhopal had to live with the toxic waste that not only killed their neighbors, friends, and family members but also remained a threat to their health until 2012 when a German toxic waste disposal company began processing the waste.
Cause of the Accident
Stricter regulations on hazardous industries in developed nations.
Since the 1970s, developed countries have strengthened legal regulations on industries that can potentially have negative impact on the environment. As a result, companies that have accumulated huge wealth through hazardous industries such as Union Carbide are under pressure to install stricter safety and pollution prevention facilities.
Exporting pollution by multinational corporations.
One might ask, “Did they still consider Asia and Africa as their colonies even at that time?” Multinational corporations, concerned that their profits would decline as a result of strengthened environmental regulations, relocated their factories to countries with relatively weak regulations (countries that were weak, struggling to survive, or ignorant of environmental values) such as Asia and Africa. Union Carbide also began looking for overseas factory relocation to avoid US government regulations at that time.
The emergence of a disaster.
Union Carbide was granted the contract to construct the Bhopal plant in Madhya Pradesh, India. Despite the state government’s request to build the plant on the outskirts of Bhopal, Union Carbide refused, citing higher costs. As a result, a fertilizer plant was built in a densely populated area of Bhopal, and Union Carbide opted to use an untested technique to design storage tanks in order to reduce costs. This decision ultimately led to a catastrophic disaster several years later. Furthermore, in the early 1980s, Union Carbide began operating the plant in an extremely reckless manner to counter declining profits caused by reduced demand for pesticides and the company’s ongoing cost-cutting measures.
2 years before the disaster
In 1982, a tragic gas leak occurred at the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, India, resulting in the death of many local workers hired by the company. Union Carbide had already displayed signs of corruption prior to the incident. Workers who had formed a union to demand safe working conditions were dismissed, and in a cost-cutting measure, the company let go of half of its remaining workforce. Despite the fatal accident caused by the company’s lack of safety measures, it appeared that the company prioritized profits over human lives by reducing the previous six-month safety training program to only 15 days. Shockingly, the company’s executives, who were irresponsible and negligent, even muted the alarm that constantly rang due to small amounts of gas leakage.
The Disaster.
On December 3, 1984, the catastrophic incident began when the pressure inside the tank containing methyl isocyanate became excessively high. Here’s a summary of what happened:
① Excessive pressure buildup inside the storage tank
② Storage tank valve ruptured due to the increase in pressure
③ Methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the ruptured valve
④ An alarm system that should have alerted people to the colorless and odorless gas leakage, failed to produce alarm noise.
⑤ The absence of safety equipment to prepare for gas leakage, resulting in continuous gas leakage.
Ultimately, after the gas leak began, 80,000 pounds (approximately 36 tons) of toxic gas leaked for two hours, and the people of Bhopal perished without even realizing what was taking place.
Incompetent and Inhumane Disaster Response
Irresponsibility of Union Carbide
Union Carbide shows an extremely selfish and greedy attitude without apology or responsibility towards the Bhopal residents who were unjustly killed or have to live with lifelong disabilities.
Instead of acknowledging their mistakes such as design flaws, lack of safety facilities, inadequate safety education, and poor production environment, Union Carbide claimed through their reports that the disaster was caused by the driver’s mistake, thereby denying any responsibility for the Bhopal tragedy and avoiding accountability for their actions. In addition, they unjustly terminated all the workers who worked in poor conditions like slaves and left 8,000 tons of toxic substances behind without taking any action to address the environmental hazards.
Instead of compensating the victims, Union Carbide chose to pay lawyers. In 1986, after a lengthy legal dispute, the company reached an agreement with the Indian government stating that “all compensation was completed with a sum of $470 million, and Union Carbide would not be responsible for any further liabilities.” Some media outlets reported that if the victims had filed a lawsuit, Union Carbide would have had to pay $30 billion in compensation, but the company had a complete victory in negotiations with the Indian government.
Moreover, in 1992, when the Bhopal court attempted to arrest the CEO of Union Carbide on charges of “culpable homicide or intentional killing,” the US government refused to extradite him, allowing the company to evade legal responsibility.
Incompetence and Indecisiveness of the Indian Government
While Union Carbide had reached the pinnacle of its ability to evade responsibility, the Indian government was characterized by its incompetence and indecisiveness.
The Indian government not only suffered a complete defeat in negotiations with Union Carbide, but also failed to take into account or even consider the opinions of the Bhopal disaster victims during the negotiation process.
Residents who lacked the means to leave the vicinity of the Bhopal disaster were still living amidst death and suffering. However, the Indian government’s response was to provide a mere 25,000 rupees (about $335) to the injured and 100,000 rupees (about $1,340) to the families of the deceased. Even worse, not all victims received compensation as only about 5,000 people received compensation for the deaths, despite environmental activists reporting over 33,000 deaths due to the aftermath.
To summarize, the Indian government allowed the entry of foreign capital to build hazardous factories, turned a blind eye to the construction of such factories in densely populated areas, failed to fulfill their security obligations to their citizens, lost negotiations with unscrupulous companies, and failed to provide assistance to the victims of the disaster.
Aftermath of the Disaster
After the Bhopal disaster, concerns were raised about the behavior of multinational corporations from developed countries operating in underdeveloped countries in Asia and Africa, but they were not followed up on. Instead, this tragedy became a strong impetus for developed countries to impose stronger regulations on safety and the environment, which in turn became a strong driving force for multinational corporations to relocate their factories to underdeveloped countries with little or no regulation.
The citizens of underdeveloped countries, who have little power and struggle to make a living, have no choice but to ignore the value of safety and the environment to some extent in order to develop their economies, and thus they cannot escape the risks similar to those of Bhopal. This situation continues to persist to this day.
I originally intended to provide more examples of accidents, but the weight of the Bhopal disaster as a topic convinced me to focus on a more detailed account. I hope that the time you spent reading my post was worthwhile.
Thank you for taking the time to read this lengthy article! I look forward to sharing more interesting and informative content with you soon.
Have a great week!
