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Bhopal Open House
by Radagast on 09
December 2002 @ 07:27 PM
With Bhopal campaigner Delcio Rodrigues and toxics campaigner Darryl
Luscombe
Delcio, Darryl and other Greenpeace staff will be responding to your
questions and comments over the next few days - please join in the
discussion.
Union Carbide caused the world's worst industrial disaster in Bhopal in
1984. Thousands died that night but the effects of the toxic gas have
killed 20,000 people to date and one person a day dies in Bhopal due to
the lasting effects of the disaster.
Dow Chemical, since its merger with Union Carbide in 2001, has refused
to assume these liabilities, despite the fact that over 20,000 people
in vicinity of the Union Carbide factory continue to be poisoned by toxic
chemicals in the groundwater and soil contamination.
In fact, in a recent memo to
all employees, the CEO of Dow Chemical, Michael Parker, states
categorically, "But what we cannot and will not do - no matter where
Greenpeace takes their protests and how much they seek to undermine Dow’s
reputation with the general public - is accept responsibility for the
Bhopal accident."
New
evidence indicates Union Carbide installed a poorly designed factory
and cut costs to compromise on safety and maintenance systems. Dow says it
wants to be a "responsible corporate citizen" and that "protecting the
people and the environment must be part of everything we do and every
business decision we make". It is difficult to see how Dow can claim to be
a sustainability leader while not accepting responsibility to address the
continuing tragedy in Bhopal.
Now that Dow Chemical has purchased Union Carbide, the liability for
cleaning up the factory site should rest with them. Yet they have taken no
action to clean up the poisoned site or take responsibility for the people
of Bhopal who are ill and dying. If Bhopal was in the US you can bet that
it would have been cleaned up in a few years rather than still ongoing 18
years later.
We would like to hear how you think Dow can be made to take it's
responsibility in Bhopal and how we can show companies that they cannot
hide their corporate crimes behind expensive greenwashing.
( Reply )
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Re: Bhopal Open House
by tig3933 on
10 December 2002 @ 01:57 AM
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After reading most of the GPI site on Bhopal, and
some Indian and Japanese sites, I sent the letter to Dow.
I
got a quick reply from the CEO, Parker, with his perspective on the
issue.
One point I didn't read in any of the websites was
that the site is now owned by the Indian govt. Why can't they clean
up the site and sue Dow to recover the costs? It works in the
US.
The fact that the plant (and it's continuing harm) is now
Indian owned, seems to have gotten Dow off the hook. How could the
Indian courts have agreed to this in the first place? No clean-up
stipulated in the "final" agreement? And why did the courts settle
for so paltry a sum in the first place?
I agree Dow should
take responsibility for doing more to end this tragedy. But it also
seems the Indian govt is ignoring it's own people by not pressing
for reparations in a US court, where their pleas would be more
sympathetically heard.
Are there legal angles to be looked
into? A high priced Hollywood lawyer would probably find some way to
get another $billion or so for clean-up and personal damages. Wasn't
there another case where a company was sued in US courts for
irresponsible action abroad? Wasn't it Shell in Nigeria, or
something?
I would also be very interested in starting a
world-wide "Down with Dow!" campaign (action day?) to bring this
into the headlines, which is where most battles are fought, and
sometimes won.
Tig
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Re: Bhopal Open House
by Anna F on
10 December 2002 @ 05:15 AM
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I guess Dow are on the charm counteroffensive. I
received an e-mail from Dow addressed to 'Dear Interested
Stakeholder' with a link to their public report site where they tell
us all about their promises and good intentions. I did respond to
their e-mail through the link available at the site. I tried to
point out that Morality, Responsibility and Care are shown by
actions not words, and that until actions match words then there was
no real interest in becoming a 'stakeholder'. I had sent e-mails to
them not just through Greenpeace but at least one other group who
were taking action some months ago. This is, I assume, how Dow had
my e-mail. Should we draw more attention to the fact that when we
have 'chemical slaughter' there has to be more to differentiate
murderous dictators from company directors, than a "Oops! Sorry! we
did not mean it. Here's some pettycash go sort it out". Legal action
as Tig suggests is also surely a good idea, although I guess
expensive and since some recent developments between Dow and the
Indian Government perhaps no longer an option. I heard some months
back that Indian activists in New Delhi were on hunger strike to
protest against the (then) proposed Indian government action that
would essentially eliminate the responsibility of Union Carbide and
Dow Chemical to provide any further restitution for the surviving
victims of the disaster. I believe a woman in Texas was going to
join the hunger strike. The Indian Ambassador in the USA received
e-mails in protest against the Indian Government intended action,
but I am not aware of how successful the action was. If anyone
thinks this information, or information on the groups (I believe in
the USA) who were taking action on this issue could be useful in
setting up links and some form of common action I am pretty
confident I can find the info and post it. Corporations are becoming
far too adept at placing themselves above the law and achieving
immunity from prosecution. Anna
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Re: Bhopal Open House
by *Shane* on
10 December 2002 @ 06:37 AM
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Although I agree with the actions taken by the
authorities to cracdown on poor workplace management, I think that
the only reason there is an attempt to make measures safer was
because thousands were killed. If only things would happen before
lives are spared. I'm afraid that nothing would have been done until
something as singnificant as this would have happened. Sigh. If only
this happened sooner.
You are kidding yourself if you think this
is going to make other mines safer.
Corporate CEOS will not be
safe if it costs money and it will never happen and that is the saf
reality.
Shane
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Re: Bhopal Open House
by Anonymous on
10 December 2002 @ 09:09 AM
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Did anybody see this press release that came out
last week??? It was posted at Indymedia. The website it linked to
was outrageous, but I guess Dow thought so too. I sent the link to a
whole bunch of friends and none of them could see it, and when I
went back it was gone gone gone.
December 3, 2002 FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
press@dow-chemical.com
DOW
ADDRESSES BHOPAL OUTRAGE, EXPLAINS POSITION
Company responds to
activist concerns with concrete action points.
In response to
growing public outrage over its handling of the Bhopal disaster's
legacy, Dow Chemical http://www.dow-/
chemical.com has
issued a statement explaining why it is unable to more actively
address the problem.
"We are being portrayed as a heartless
giant which doesn't care about the 20,000 lives lost due to Bhopal
over the years," said Dow President and CEO Michael D. Parker. "But
this just isn't true. Many individuals within Dow feel tremendous
sorrow about the Bhopal disaster, and many individuals within Dow
would like the corporation
to admit its responsibility, so that
the public can then decide on the best course of action, as is
appropriate in any democracy.
"Unfortunately, we have
responsibilities to our shareholders and our industry colleagues
that make action on Bhopal impossible. And being clear about this
has been a very big step."
On December 3, 1984, Union
Carbide--now part of Dow--
accidentally killed 5,000 residents of
Bhopal, India, when its pesticide plant sprung a leak. It abandoned
the plant without cleaning it up, and since then, an estimated
15,000 more people have died from complications, most resulting from
chemicals released into the groundwater.
Although legal
investigations have consistently pinpointed Union Carbide as
culprit, both Union Carbide and Dow have had to publicly deny these
findings. After the accident, Union Carbide compensated victims'
families between US$300 and US$500 per victim.
"We understand
the anger and hurt," said Dow Spokesperson Bob Questra. "But Dow
does not and cannot acknowledge responsibility. If we did, not only
would we be required to expend many billions of dollars on cleanup
and compensation--much worse, the public could then point to Dow as
a precedent in other big cases. 'They took responsibility; why can't
you?' Amoco, BP, Shell, and Exxon all have
ongoing problems that
would just get much worse. We are unable to set this precedent for
ourselves and the industry, much as we would like to see the issue
resolved in a humane and satisfying way."
Shareholders
reacted to the Dow statement with enthusiasm. "I'm happy that Dow is
being clear about its aims," said Panaline Boneril, who owns 10,000
shares, "because Bhopal is a recurrent problem that's
clogging
our value chain and ultimately keeping the share price from
expressing its full potential. Although a real solution is not
immediately possible because of Dow's commitments to the larger
industry issues, there is new hope in management's exceptional new
clarity on the matter."
"It's a slow process," said Questra.
"We must learn bit by bit to meet this challenge head-on. For now,
this means acknowledging that much as it pains us, our prime
responsibilities are to the people who own Dow shares, and to the
industry as a whole. We simply cannot do anything
at this moment
for the people of Bhopal."
Dow Chemical is a chemical
products and services company
devoted to bringing its customers a
wide range of chemicals. It furnishes solutions for the agriculture,
electronics, manufacturing, and oil and gas industries, including
well-known products like Styrofoam, DDT, and Agent Orange, as well
as lesser-known brands like
Inspire, Retain, Eliminator, Quash,
and Woodstalk.
For more on the Bhopal catastrophe, please
visit Dow at
http://www.dow-chemical.com/.
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Re: Bhopal Open House
by Anonymous on
10 December 2002 @ 09:58 AM
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I see unscrupulous human's consequences on Bhopal
(unscrupulous Union Carbide India Ltd !!'!), and i remember that
sites type exist in other country : Albanie, Russie, roumanie
and...
I can't forget the East Country who, after
catastrophic politics, are victim to catastrophic ecological
desaster.
100% de soutien aux activistes Greenpeace et aux
organisations locales de survivants de la catastrophe du Bhopal
!!'!
Peace!!'!
Christophe
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Re: Bhopal Open House
by Anonymous on
10 December 2002 @ 05:50 PM
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The best way to kindle the company's notice to the
badly-hit people of Bhopal, to at least give relief funds, is to
join together and stop buying its products such as 'Eveready'
cells.
Albert.
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Re: Bhopal Open House
by daniell on 11
December 2002 @ 12:41 PM
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For me there is no doubt that Dow will have to
accept responsibility for the Bhopal accident, this is only a
question of time. But what does this mean, to take responsibility?
Greenpeace points this out by four points: 1) ensure the toxic
factory site is cleaned up, 2) ensure clean drinking water is
provided, 3) secure medical rehabilitation and long-term medical
treatment facilities, 4) secure economic rehabilitation for the
gas-affected persons and their families. I agree with this list,
because I believe it is very important to always point out clearly
what an abstract word like "responsibility" means. I think that it
should not be our goal to try to destroy Dow or even to take revenge
on this company, BUT just to make them pay what they are due. (Of
course there still are all these lives lost, health ruined and pain
caused, something that can never be paid with money.) But let's just
suppose Dow has agreed to take responsibility: Has anybody ever
tried to figure out the costs for Dow if they accept these four
points? I guess it should be possible for the first three points to
give quite exact numbers, while for point 4 it might be difficult.
My point: On one hand this will be an enormous sum of money. BUT: It
has to be compared to the enormous amount of money this company
makes, and has made, every year. So by pointing out the effective
costs I am sure it will be clear that Dow CAN AFFORD to take the
step, take responsibility and really do something for the people in
Bhopal.
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Compare and Contrast - Dow v Bhopal
by Tom
Dowdall on 11 December 2002 @ 04:35 PM
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Hi,
Just few pertinent facts (and a small
bit of opinion at the end):
Dow
World largest
chemical company
Annual sales: US$28 Billion (makes Dow
bigger economically than 2/3 of the world's nations)
Assets:
$US10.8 billion
Investments: US$4.3 billion
Property:
US$13.7 billion
Total assets: US$36.8
billion
Bhopal
World's worst industrial
disaster
Dead - 20,000 to date
Injured - estimated
500,000 still suffer from the disasters conituing
effects
Current compensation - $300-500 per
survivour
Abandoned factory one of the most polluted hotspots
in the world.
What fraction of their huge assest is Dow
willing to spare to end this ongoing disaster?
Apparently
from their letter to staff, not much:
"Can, and should Dow,
in its role as a global corporate citizen, help to address any of
the present day needs which are apparent in Bhopal? That is why,
despite the fact that we clearly have no legal obligations in
relation to the tragedy, we have, for some time, been exploring
various philanthropic initiatives which might address some of those
needs – just as we do in other parts of the world where we have
business interests."
Basically under extreme pressure they
may make a small 'gift'.
Who wants to help ensure they do the
right thing in Bhopal and show them this is the only way to really
keep protesters quiet?
Tom
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Re: Bhopal Open House
by Anonymous on
11 December 2002 @ 11:04 PM
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Your statement that Dow Chemical should assume
responsibiliy for the terrible crimes committed by Union Carbide is
the most ludicrous statement that I have ever heard. I totally
support the agressive and continuing pressure on UCC to clean up the
site. I have read up on the Bhopal situation, at http://www.bhopal.com/ and at http://www.chemsafety.gov/lib/bhopal01.htm#introduction.
On Feb. 6, 2001 Dow purchased all of Union Carbides STOCK and today
it is still a seperately operated company. Are you trying to tell me
that since I own stock in Texas Instruments that I could and should
be sued by Iraqis because TI made many of the parts that were used
in the laser guided bombs during the 1991 Gulf War. Are you trying
to tell me that if I were to buy a used car, and it were to break
down and cause me to get into a serious accident, that the person
that sold me the USED car should liable for my pain and suffering?
Why has Greenpeace not been sued for the economic terrorism that it
supports when it's members shut down a factory and cause that
company to lose, in some cases, millions of dollars in lossed
revenue due to the shut down? Greenpeace's defense would be, "we are
not responsible for the actions of some of our rouge members".
Greenpeace opperates on the donations of it's members, so how can it
not be responsible for their actions? Why the
hypocrisy?
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Re: Bhopal Open House
by Anonymous on
12 December 2002 @ 12:02 AM
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How can Dow Chemical be responsible for what Union
Carbide did in Bhopal back in 1984? I own stock in Texas
Instruments. Should I be liable for the Iraqis killed by the laser
guided bombs that fell back in 1991? What if I owned stock in Dow
Chemical? Should I be financially liable for cleaning up Bhopal? I
guarentee that in one way or another Greenpeace has directly
supported Dow Chemical financially, by purchasing or using anything
that contains plastics or other chemicals. What about the computer
server that keeps this web site running? What about your ships that
pollute the atmosphere? I could go on and on a point out the
hypocrisy. The biggest liability I see that Greenpeace is
responsible for, is the economic terrorism that it supports. If Dow
Chemical is responsible for Bhopal, then shouldn't Greenpeace be
liable for it's members that shut down various companies facilities
for sometimes days at a time? Should Greenpeace not be sued by the
company that lost revenue, due to the shut down? Greenpeace
organized the shut down. I totally agree the pressure for Union
Carbide to clean up the site should be kept up. What about the
responsibilities of the Indian government, which now owns the site?
You cannot go down the line and hold everyone who is related to who
was directly responsible, liable for what happened.
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