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Journalism of Courage
Pressure for the extradition of former Union Carbide chairman Warren Anderson mounted today when organisations representing the survivors released a document claiming that ‘‘unproven technology’’ was used in the factory unit that leaked poisonous gas.
A document released by the organisations said Union Carbide and Anderson, the company’s chief in 1984, knew that the technology used in the critical Methyl Isocynate (MIC) unit of the Bhopal factory had not been tested safe.
The document, which Union Carbide was forced to disclose during litigation brought by Bhopal survivors in the federal southern district court of New York on September 20, 2002, shows that the tragedy was waiting to happen.
The papers indicate that Anderson had ordered cost-cutting in the most hazardous parts of the factory, knowing well the technical risks in its design and location.
The papers have also been handed over to the CBI, which is currently trying to extradite Anderson. He was spotted by Greenpeace activists in the US recently.
Other documents, now publicly available for the first time, reveal that the MIC unit was built on the basis of ‘‘unproven technology’’ to ensure that the company retains majority stakes in its Indian subsidiary, Union Carbide of India Limited (UCIL).
The document states: ‘‘The comparative risk of poor performance and of the consequent need for further investment to correct it is considerably higher in the UCIL operation than it would be had proven technology been followed. CO and 1-Napthol processes have not been tried commercially. Even the MIC-to-Sevin process has had only a limited trial. It can be expected that there will be interruptions in operations and delays in reaching capacity or product quality, which might have been avoided by using proven technology.’’
While the proposal was put up on December 2, 1973, the leak took place on the night of December 2, 1984, killing at least 8,000 people in three days and crippling more than 20,000 till date.
Even more damaging admissions have been made under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) ratings for the plant. ‘‘With two exceptions, the ratings for human bodily systems at Institute (the Union Carbide plant in Virginia) and Bhopal are essentially the same. The exceptions are the carbon monoxide and methyl isocynate systems,’’ the ratings say.
It was admitted that ‘‘Bhopal has been given 1.5 ratings because of napthol and chloroform emissions… The EIA ratings for (the Virginia) Institute are zero’’.
Such evidence, according to Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, is reason enough to ‘‘revise the pending criminal charges against Anderson in the Bhopal court’’. ‘‘He should be charged with homicide now,’’ Sarangi said.
