The Bhopal Gas Tragedy
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THE JOURNEY FROM VIRGINIA TO BHOPALIn 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.
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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.' |
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To manufacture Sevin phosgene[2] 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.
UCC's operations in India started in the beginning of the twentieth century. In
1924, an assembly plant for batteries was opened in Kolkata. By 1983 UCC had 14
plants in India manufacturing chemicals pesticides, batteries and other
products. UCC held a 50.9 % stake in the Indian subsidiary. The balance of 49.1%
was owned by various Indian investors. Normally foreign investors were limited
to 40% ownership of equity in Indian companies, but GoI waived this requirement
in the case of UCC because of the sophistication of its technology and the
company's potential for export.
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ALL'S NOT WELL WITH THE BHOPAL PLANT
THE TRAGEDY
UNION CARBIDE TAKES THE OFFENSIVE
THE SETTLEMENT
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
EXHIBIT I THE SITE FOR THE PESTICIDE FACTORY
ADDITIONAL READINGS AND REFERENCES:
[2] The gas used to
strangle thousands of First World War soldiers in the guise of Mustard gas.
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