NEW YORK - December 3 - Today hundreds of students in NYC joined protests around the world demanding accountability from Dow Chemical Company and the Indian government. Several hundred students from Parsons the New School, as part of an all freshman "Laboratory" class, used their bodies in a massive public installation spelling out the words D-O-W in Union Square North. Other participants held up placards spelling out, "Clean Up Bhopal," in the background.

"It's no surprise that hundreds of New School students volunteered to die today to call out the continued death and devastation in Bhopal that Dow Chemical refuses to take responsibility for," said Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men, also a faculty member at the school, whose lecture to the freshman class had precipitated the action. "It's great to see students continuing the feisty legacy of the New School."

To this day Dow has refused to face trial in India, both civil and criminal (the company is named in a criminal case for harboring a fugitive, former Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson).

"We're here to remind people in New York and elsewhere that Bhopalis continue to die from the after-effects of that disaster," said Adriane Corwin, an organizer with the Bhopal campaign who has lived and worked in Bhopal. "Children are still drinking water full of toxins and carcinogens. That's the real Human Element," referring to Dow's pricey PR and marketing campaign (www.dow.com/hu).

"Dow is acting really douchey," said Rocco Ferrer, a part-time Yes Man and fashion blogger who helped arrange the "installation" of dead students. "Clean up your mess already and make Bhopal fabulous."

BACKGROUND

At midnight on December 2, 1984 twenty-seven tons of lethal gases leaked from Union Carbide's pesticide factory in Bhopal, India, immediately killing 8,000 people and poisoning thousands of others. Another 15,000 are estimated to have died as a result of the gas exposure since then, and today at least 150,000 people, including children born to parents who survived the disaster, are suffering from exposure-related health effects such as cancer, neurological damage, chaotic menstrual cycles and mental illness. A recent study by the Bhopal Medical Appeal found some toxics in the groundwater at up to 2,400 times higher than World Health Organization and U.S. EPA guidelines.

Dow Chemical, which bought Union Carbide in 1999, insists that it has no responsibility for toxic legacy. Former Union Carbide executive Warren Anderson, indicted for manslaughter in India, lives freely in Long Island. The 25th anniversary of the largest industrial disaster in history highlights the continuing fight for justice and reparations for the people of Bhopal, and the wanton lack of corporate accountability by Dow Chemical Company. Commemorative events, protests and die-ins are taking place worldwide today to coincide with the 25th anniversary.

The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal demands the following:

    * Dow must present subsidiary, Union Carbide, in court to face trial in the ongoing criminal proceedings against them in India.

    * Dow must give the Indian government their requested $23 million deposit now to start cleaning up Bhopal and prevent further spread of the toxins.

    * The Indian Government needs to fulfill its August 2008 promise to establish an "empowered commission" addressing the health, environmental, and economic issues in Bhopal.

    * The Indian Government needs to fulfill its promise to build pipelines to bring clean water to the communities that have been drinking, eating, and washing with contaminated water for 25 years.  Construction was started, but has been stalled, and needs to be completed urgently.