The Bhopal Gas Tragedy

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Introduction Contd...

In addition to causing the Bhopal disaster, UCC was also guilty of prolonging the misery and suffering of the survivors. By withholding medical information on the chemicals, it deprived victims of proper medical care. By denying interim relief, as directed by two Indian courts, it caused a lot hardship to the survivors. In February 1989, the Supreme Court of India ruled that UCC should pay US$470 million as compensation in full and final settlement. UCC said it would accept the ruling provided Government of India (GoI) did not pursue any further legal proceedings against the company and its officials. GoI accepted the offer without consulting with the victims.

The Journey from Virginia to Bhopal In the beginning of the 20th century, UCC was born of a merger of four US companies producing batteries and arc lamps for street lighting and headlamps for cars. By the second half of the 20th century, UCC had 130 subsidiaries in 40 countries, approximately 500 production sites and 120,000 employees. UCC manufactured industrial gases, such as nitrogen, oxygen, methane, ethylene and propane, used in petroleum industry as well as chemical substances like ammonia and urea used in the manufacture of fertilizers. It also produced sophisticated metallurgical specialities based on alloys of cobalt, chrome and tungsten, used in airplane turbines. In addition to all these, it produced a whole range of plastic goods for general use. In the 1950s, parasites were creating havoc in the United States, as well as Mexico, Central America and several South American countries, destroying fodder crop, and plantations.

These parasites also found in Malaysia, Japan, and southern Europe attacked potato crops as well as fruit trees and vegetables. The red vine spider was another threat to food crops. The chemical industry had to come up with something to eradicate this. A number of companies went into action. One of them was UCC.

In 1954, UCC embarked on a mission of devising a product to exterminate a wide range of parasites, while at the same time respecting the prevailing standards for the protection and safety of human beings and their environment. Thus was born the 'Experimental Insecticide Seven Seven' which soon came to be known as 'Sevin.' To manufacture Sevin phosgene² gas was made to react with another gas called monomethylamine.

The reaction of these two gases produced a new molecule, MIC. MIC was one of the most dangerous compounds ever invented in the chemical history. UCC's toxicologists had tested it on rats and the results had been so terrifying that the company banned publication of their work. Other experiments had shown that animals exposed to MIC vapours would face instantaneous death. MIC was so volatile that as soon as it came into contact with a few drops of water or a few ounces of metal dust, it got off an uncontrollably violent reaction.

No safety system, no matter how sophisticated, would then be able to stop it emitting a fatal cloud into the atmosphere. To prevent explosion, MIC had to be kept permanently at a temperature near zero. Therefore, provision had to be made for the refrigeration of any drums or tanks that were to hold it.

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2] The gas used to strangle thousands of First World War soldiers in the guise of Mustard gas.