Invoking Dows toxic Bhopal legacy,Olympics watchdog member quits

I believe people should be free to enjoy London 2012 without this toxic legacy on their conscience, she said.

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The row over Dow Chemicals sponsorship of 2012 London Olympics escalated today with a commissioner of an ethics watchdog for the mega sporting event resigning over the multinationals links to the Bhopal gas disaster.

Meredith Alexander,who sat on the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012,said she had decided to quit the independent body to draw attention to the toxic legacy of Bhopal.

I dont want to be party to a defence of Dow Chemicals,the company responsible for one of the worst corporate human rights violations in my generation. It is appalling that 27 years on,the site has still not been cleaned up and thousands of people are still suffering… I believe people should be free to enjoy London 2012 without this toxic legacy on their conscience, she said.

Alexander is one of the 13 commissioners an unpaid post in the panel. I think the responsible thing to do would be for Dow to withdraw from the contract. Otherwise London 2012 is undermining its aim to be the most sustainable Games ever and showing contempt for Bhopal victims, she said.