Exposure: the human cost of corporate crimes in Bh

The US multinational Dow Chemicals today denied media reports that it would take full responsibility for the Bhopal tragedy. Reports had stated that Dow Chemicals would liquefy Union Carbide, spend 12 billion USD on cleaning up the contaminated factory site, and properly compensate victims.

"It is a great shame that today's reports are not true and that Dow are not going to end the ongoing tragedy of the people of Bhopal by taking responsibility for the disaster," said Greenpeace International toxics campaigner, Zeina Alhajj.

"The Bhopal accident has so far left 20,000 dead, thousands more suffering ill health and a polluted site. When Dow took over Union Carbide three years ago it took over not just the profits but also became responsible for Union Carbides past liabilities, one of which is the responsibility for the Bhopal disaster. It must now put people before profit, clean up the contaminated site, provide proper compensation and fund health care for the survivors of this terrible disaster."

For more information please contact:
Zeina Alhajj, Greenpeace International toxics campaigner +31(0) 653 128 904

"Exposure": the human cost of corporate crimes in

Indian government initiates clean up survey - Greenpeace demands Dow must pay

On the 20th anniversary of the world's worst industrial disaster which resulted in nearly 20,000 deaths (1), the federal government in the Bhopal area has called for a survey of the site to access the extent of the contamination. Greenpeace is calling on Dow Chemicals to take responsibility for the disaster by funding the clean up of the still highly contaminated site and to aid the thousands of people still suffering the effects of the accident.

"While we welcome the announcement that the Indian government wants to survey the Bhopal site, Greenpeace believes that after 20 years this is the slowest first step in history. We call on Dow Chemicals to face up to their responsibilities and fund the clean up and the Indian government to immediately commit itself to urgent measures of securing the site and providing clean drinking water to the survivors," said Vinuta Gopal, Greenpeace campaigner in Bhopal.

Today and tomorrow will see activists across the globe commemorating the disaster. In Switzerland tomorrow, Greenpeace activists will be delivering an exact replica of the memorial statue that stands in Bhopal to Dow's European head quarters to demand justice for the people of Bhopal. In India there will be candlelight vigils in seven cities, including Bhopal organised by Greenpeace and other activists.

Twenty years after the devastating accident at Bhopal the site still remains contaminated with highly toxic chemicals. There is lax security around the site and children regularly play in the area. As well as having contamination from the initial leak the Bhopal site also now bears a deadly toxic legacy from years of routine plant operations. Dangerous chemicals have spread throughout the local environment, even reaching the local drinking water supply. A 1999 study by Greenpeace found local ground water supplies to be highly contaminated with a cocktail of dangerous chemicals.

Only last month Greenpeace brought together an independent team of decontamination experts at a symposium on how to initiate the Bhopal clean up. Their recommendations included:

• cleaning of the surrounding areas ground water using internationally recommended standards
• urgent need to secure the site from the public
• a recommendation that the site should not be transformed into a landfill or any other type of long-term storage of hazardous waste
• proposed shipment of stockpiled chemicals and other hazardous waste from India to developed countries for treatment.

Tomorrow, 3rd Dec, there will be a seminar in Brussels on Bhopal and corporate accountability where Gerd Leipold, Greenpeace International Executive Director will state: "In an increasingly globalised world, there is a need for corporations like DOW to use consistent standards around the world and take responsibility for their operations. If this disaster had happened in Europe or the US, the site would have been cleaned and the people fully compensated. We demand that DOW takes full responsibility for the horrendous disaster in Bhopal."

Greenpeace and International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB) (2) are demanding that DOW, the multinational chemical leader, pays for the health treatment of the survivors, cleans up the large stockpiles of dangerous poisons left behind at the factory site since the disaster and cleans up the contaminated underground water. They are also calling for international corporate accountability legislation to make sure disasters like Bhopal never happen again.

Notes to editors:
(1) Forty tons of lethal gases leaked from Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal on the night of December 3rd 1984 resulted in up to 20,000 people being killed and leaving 120,000 chronically ill. In February 2001, Union Carbide (UC), the owners of the factory at the time, merged with DOW Chemical Company and became a wholly owned subsidiary of DOW.
(2)www.bhopal.net

For more information please contact:
Vinuta Gopal, Greenpeace campaigner in Bhopal, +91-98-45535418
Zeina Al-Hajj, Greenpeace International Toxics Campaign, m +31(0)653128904

Photos of Bhopal including some taken this year by a Greenpeace team are available from Greenpeace UK press office on ++207 865 8255

Bhopal survivor Rashida Bee arrested outside Dow Chemicals Benelux plant

Two women survivors from the world's worst industrial disaster - the Bhopal gas tragedy - have won one of the most prestigious international environmental awards. Dubbed the "Nobel Prize for the Environment", the Goldman Environmental Prize (1) was awarded to Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla, for their role in keeping the memories of Bhopal alive, and leading the struggle in Bhopal for justice since 1984, when poisonous gas leak from Union Carbide's pesticide factory in Bhopal, India, killed thousands of people.

Long-term fighters for justice for Bhopal and survivors of the worst chemical disaster, Rashida and Champa have won the Goldman award for leading a trade union struggle for the livelihood rights of more than 80 women survivors, and rehabilitation and justice for all victims of the disaster. They have mobilised thousands of survivors from the slums of Bhopal by making them aware of their rights and the pending liabilities of Union Carbide, which is currently owned by DOW Chemical Company (2).

Rashida and Champa Devi's have travelled the world to gain wide support and to bring attention to the ongoing tragedy of Bhopal (3). "This prize will go a long way in helping reconstruct the lives, jobs and health of people devastated by Union Carbide/DOW. In addition, we will use a portion of the money awarded to set up our own national prize in India for those people, who are also fighting against corporate crime", said Champa Devi.

In the course of their struggle and campaigning, both women have faced strong pressure and harassment. They have been threatened with lawsuits and arrested by the police during protests (4). "The Goldman Award for Bhopal puts Union Carbide's legacy squarely in DOW's face. The world is awakening to the crimes in Bhopal and this award shows that DOW can no longer ignore the Bhopal liabilities it has acquired. The longer DOW stalls in meeting their liabilities, the worse it will be for the company and its shareholders", explained Rashida.

On December 3rd, 1984, more than 40 tons of poisonous gases leaked from a storage tank at a Union Carbide pesticide factory into the heart of Bhopal city, immediately killing 8,000 people. Since then, more than 20,000 deaths have been attributed to the disaster. Survivors and their children continue to suffer long-term health effects ranging from cancer and tuberculosis to birth defects and chronic fevers.

Multiple studies, including a Greenpeace environmental assessment in 1999 at the disaster site, have found mercury, nickel and other toxins in the local groundwater and dangerous levels of toxins. Many of the people, who continue to live in the vicinity of the factory, including survivors of the deadly gas leak, are left with no alternative but to use groundwater contaminated with toxic pollutants. Greenpeace and the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal -ICJB (5) urgently demand DOW Chemical to take full liability for this disaster.

"This celebration today is a clear recognition for their struggle that has been going on for the past twenty years to reach justice. It is a struggle that will continue until corporates like Union Carbide and DOW are held responsible for their crimes," said Casey Harrell, Greenpeace US campaigner.

Greenpeace is also calling for international agreements to be established to hold corporations criminally and financially liable for industrial disasters and ongoing pollution.

Notes to editor:

(1) Goldman Environmental Prizes are awarded for sustained and important efforts to preserve the natural environment, including, but not limited to: protecting endangered ecosystems and species, combating destructive development projects, promoting sustainability, influencing environmental policies and striving for environmental justice. Each year six grassroots individuals from six regions of the world are recognized as "environmental heroes". Rashida Bee and Champa Devi were awarded the environmental hero of Asia.

(2) In February 2001, Union Carbide became a full subsidiary of DOW chemicals.

(3) Rashida Bee went to Johannesburg in August/September 2002 to bring her case forwards to attendants of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, where she also opened a photo exhibition on the ongoing Bhopal tragedy by the Indian photographer Raghu Rai. During 2002, Rashida, Champa and other survivors travelled on various occasions to Europe to bring their case forewords to DOW managers, politicians and other decisions makers and to show solidarity with other victims of corporate crimes. In May 2003 Rasida and Champa campaigned in the US where they - finally - had a face to face meeting with the DOW CEO to discuss the case of the Bhopal tragedy and ongoing needs of the survivors.

(4) Arrested along with 65 other activists under charges of Criminal Trespass into the DOW-Carbide premises on November 25, 2002, when a clean up of the premises was attempted by the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal. Subsequently, the Chief Minister of the State of Madhya Pradesh announced that he was dropping charges against all those who were arrested that day.

(5) The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB) is an umbrella organisation of all the groups who have joined forces to campaign for justice for the gas survivors of Bhopal. The ICJB is spearheaded by survivors (the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh) and long-time supporters like the Bhopal Group for Information & Action.

For more information contact the Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255.

Bhopal: contaminated well

Guidelines for clean up delivered to multinational chemical giant

As Dow Chemicals talked of increased sales today, Greenpeace challenged the multinational to spend some of its assets on cleaning up hundreds of tonnes of toxic waste that has been poisoning survivors of the world's worst industrial disaster since 1984 (1). The waste was abandoned by Union Carbide (now Dow Chemicals) after an explosion at its pesticide plant in Bhopal, India left 8,000 dead and half a million injured.

"My research takes me to lots of contaminated areas, but never before have I witnessed a scene like this," said Greenpeace scientist, Ruth Stringer. "Survivors of the Bhopal disaster have been slowly poisoned by exposure to these chemicals for the past eighteen years."

At a press conference in Bhopal this morning, Greenpeace and other members of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB) launched new comprehensive guidelines on how to safely clean up toxic waste at the factory site in Bhopal. "Dow must contain all the toxic poisons left behind at the Bhopal site and clean it up using highest possible standards, at least equivalent to those that would be applied in the U.S. or Europe," said Stringer.(2)

Greenpeace and the ICJB are today delivering the guidelines to Dow headquarters in the U.S. and Europe as well as presented them personally to the Chief Minister of the State of Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Digvijay Singh, whose Minister of Gas Relief, Mr. Arif Akeel, said past October 19th that "We will ask that Dow be held accountable for whatever environmental damages have occurred because while they inherited the assets they also become responsible for liabilities", as reported by The Indian Express.

"We fully support the state government's move to make sure Dow shoulders the costs of cleaning up toxic waste in Bhopal," said Ananthpadmadabhan, Executive Director of Greenpeace India. "Why should taxpayers in a country with a national average earning of USD 460 pay to clean up the waste of a U.S. multinational chemical giant that boasts annual revenues of over USD 28 billion?" he added.

Notes to editors:

1. See Greenpeace report The Bhopal Legacy.
   The study is based on past scientific research on the contamination of the site, conducted by Greenpeace and other independent organisations since the explosion in 1984.
2. Survivor of the Bhopal disaster Rashida Bai will arrive in Europe on Saturday to tour the region seeking further support for their case against Dow Chemicals.

Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255

Warren Anderson /Shannon Sweeney Daily Mirror

Greenpeace today called on the U.S. State Department to arrest and extradite international fugitive and Bhopal corporate criminal Warren Anderson, after he was found by a UK newspaper and Greenpeace living a life of luxury in New York State. Anderson, the former Chief Executive Officer of Union Carbide, has been hiding in the United States since an explosion at his company's plant in Bhopal, India, caused the worst industrial disaster in history in December 1984.

Greenpeace paid Anderson a visit at his U.S. home and handed him an arrest warrant. He has been facing charges of culpable homicide and an extradition order from the government of India for the past eleven years. He has never appeared in court to face charges for crimes in Bhopal or even to explain why his company did not apply the same safety standards at its plant in India that it operated at a sister plant in South Charleston, the U.S. State of West Virginia.

Greenpeace campaigner, Casey Harrell, in the U.S said, "If a team of journalists and Greenpeace managed to track down India's most wanted man in a matter of days, how seriously have the U.S. authorities tried to find him all these years? The U.S. has reacted swiftly on curbing the financial corporate crimes of Enron and WorldCom, but has clearly not made much of an effort to find Anderson, responsible for the deaths of 20,000 people in India."

On the night of the disaster, when an explosion at Union Carbide's pesticide plant caused 40 tonnes of lethal gas to seep into the city of Bhopal, six safety measures designed to prevent a gas leak had either malfunctioned, were turned off or were otherwise inadequate. In addition, the safety siren, intended to alert the community should an incident occur at the plant, was turned off.

Union Carbide responded to the disaster by paying survivors inadequate compensation and abandoning the plant, leaving tonnes of dangerous toxic chemicals strewn around the site and the people of Bhopal with a toxic legacy that is still causing injury today. In 2001, the company shed its name by merging with Dow Chemical.

In May this year, the government of India unexpectedly started proceedings to dilute charges against Anderson from culpable homicide to negligent homicide. But yesterday, the judgement of a Bhopal Court rejected the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation's plea to dilute charges against Anderson. The ruling has been welcomed by those representing the victims in their fight for justice.

Calling on both governments to act swiftly, Mr. Ganesh Nochur, Campaigns Director of Greenpeace India said, "Now that Anderson's address is known, India must immediately and formally push for his arrest and extradition on charges of culpable homicide. In return, Greenpeace demands that the U.S. honour this request, per the two nations' extradition agreement, Anderson and the rest of Union Carbide, now Dow Chemical, should take responsibility for their crimes in Bhopal."

Bhopal is an ongoing disaster. One hundred twenty thousand people still face serious health problems and children born to survivors are also affected. The toxic chemicals abandoned in Bhopal by the chemical company have contaminated the groundwater that is used by thousands of people who live around the abandoned factory. (3) Greenpeace and Bhopal survivors (4) are calling on Dow Chemical to clean up the factory site at its own expense as would be required in the U.S. Dow Chemicals should also secure long-term medical treatment facilities and medical rehabilitation for the survivors of the poisonous gas leak, ensure economic compensation for the gas-affected people and their families, and provide clean drinking water to communities that are forced to consume contaminated groundwater.

"As delegates gather at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, we fully expect corporate crimes such as this to be high on their agenda. International legislation must be established to make sure corporations and their officials are held criminally and financially liable for environmental terrorism. There must be no more Bhopals," concluded Ganesh. .

Notes to editors:
In 1992, a warrant was issued for Mr. Anderson's arrest. He was charged with culpable homicide in connection with the chemical disaster at Union Carbide's Bhopal plant in 1984. This is an extraditable offence under the extradition treaty between the United States and India. Mr. Anderson has also evaded a summons to appear in a U.S. court for a civil trial relating to the Bhopal disaster. Daily Mirror, 29-08-2002.

In 1999, Greenpeace and Bhopal community groups visited the abandoned factory to assess the environmental condition of the site and its surroundings. The team documented the presence of stockpiles of toxic pesticides as well as hazardous wastes and contaminated material scattered throughout the factory site. The survey found substantial and, in some locations, severe contamination of land and water supplies with heavy metals and chlorinated chemicals.

Greenpeace is campaigning in Bhopal as part of an international NGO coalition AaCcTt including the Bhopal Gas Affected Women Stationery Workers Association, Bhopal Gas Affected Pensioners Association, Bhopal Group for Information and Action, National Campaign For Justice in Bhopal, The Other Media and CorpWatch.

Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace UK press office 020 7865 8255

Photographs and video are available on request.

Exposure: the human cost of corporate crimes in Bhopal

Greenpeace has launched a touring exhibition of photographs of Bhopal by world renowned Magnum photographer, Raghu Rai (1).

'Exposure: portrait of a corporate crime' offers a unique insight into the human and environmental tragedy that has engulfed the Indian city since December 1984, when an explosion at Union Carbide s pesticide plant released lethal gases into the city, causing the world's worst industrial disaster.

The American company responded by abandoning the contaminated plant, paying the survivors inadequate compensation and refusing to accept liability for the disaster. Exposure documents both the immediate aftermath of the explosion and the ongoing struggle of survivors determined to secure justice from the chemical giant even though they have lost their families, economic security and health.

This moving collection shows what happens when companies such as Union Carbide - now Dow (2) - are not held accountable for the disasters and pollution they cause. It gives a voice to the people whose lives have been torn apart by a corporate crime, said Ganesh Nochur, Campaigns Director of Greenpeace India, during the exhibition launch.

Raghu Rai arrived in Bhopal hours after the gas leak to find chaos as the dead were being buried and cremated and the hospitals overflowing with thousands of patients. Rai realised he was witnessing a disaster of unprecedented proportions and the start of a long nightmare for the gas-exposed survivors.

What I saw was to change my life. It was an unprecedented scene of chaos. What startled me most was the silence of death. Thousands of people had already died, thousands more than died in the 11 September attack on the World Trade Centre. I vowed then and there to continue my work, to do all I could to show the world what happens to people when corporations are not held liable for their operations, when they re allowed to cut costs and safety standards when they operate abroad, said Raghu Rai.

To date, 20,000 have died from gas exposure and the effects are now extending into the next generation. 150,000 of the survivors are chronically ill and communities are drinking contaminated groundwater because Dow has still not cleaned up the dangerous chemicals Union Carbide left behind. (3)

The exhibition is launched in the middle of a series of protests that began after moves by the Indian government to reduce outstanding charges against Warren Anderson, Union Carbide's Chief Executive Officer at the time of the disaster, from culpable homicide to negligence (4). Anderson is the subject of an Interpol warrant but has been hiding in the United States since the disaster. He has never appeared in court to explain why his company flouted the same safety rules in Bhopal that it enforced at a sister plant in West Virginia, USA. If the Indian government reduces the charges, he will face a small fine or a maximum of two years imprisonment rather than a maximum custodial sentence of ten years. He will also not have to appear in India for trial.

Tara Bai, a Bhopal survivor who went on hunger strike for 19 days in July to protest the move to reduce charges against Anderson said: "I remember the night of the gas leak as though it were yesterday. I lost my child and could not conceive since. To see the culprits of this disaster being let off by a shameless government is too much to bear. They seem to treat the world's worst industrial disaster as though it was a car crash."

As the world prepares for the Earth Summit in South Africa, we fully expect governments to agree on the need for international instruments to ensure unethical companies are held fully accountable for horrendous crimes committed while pursuing profits. There must be no more Bhopals, concluded Ganesh.

Greenpeace and Bhopal survivors organisations are campaigning to ensure Dow Chemical cleans up the factory site at its expense, as would be required in the U.S., provide long-term medical treatment for the survivors of the poison gas leak, ensure medical and economic compensation for the 2nd and emerging 3rd generation victims, provide clean drinking water to communities that are forced to consume contaminated groundwater and punish the guilty.(5)

Notes to editors:
(1) Born in 1942, Raghu Rai has been amazing the photographic world for over thirty years with his unique images. In 1993, he was honoured as the Photographer of the Year in the Unites States. Rai has been an associate of Magnum for over 20 years, an international agency that has been at the forefront of documentary and reportage photography for over 50 years. Exposure: Portrait of a Corporate Crime will be shown at the Mumbai Centre for Photography as an Art Form, National Centre for the Performing Arts, NCPA Marg, Nariman Point, Mumbai, India from 14-24 August 2002. Opening event 13 August. Next showing at: Sandton, Johannesburg. Opening event August 27 Art Heritage Gallery, 205 Tansen Marg, New Delhi 16-25 September 2002. Opening event 15 September. The exhibition will continue to tour world-wide.

(2) In 2001, Dow Chemical and Union Carbide merged, becoming the world's biggest chemical company. In buying Union Carbide, Dow not only bought the company's assets but also its liabilities.

(3) In 1999, Greenpeace visited the abandoned factory to assess the environmental condition of the site and its surroundings. The team documented the presence of stockpiles of toxic pesticides as well as hazardous wastes and contaminated material scattered throughout the factory site. The survey found substantial and, in some locations, severe contamination of land and water supplies with heavy metals and chlorinated chemicals. The water is still used for drinking and cooking by thousands of people the live near the site.

(4) Rashida Bee, Tara Bai and Satinath Sarangi's hunger strike inspired other people around the world. 52 year old Diane Wilson has been on hunger strike for 26 days outside the Dow chemical facility in her hometown of Seadrift, Texas, to support the Bhopal survivors nearly 18 year struggle for justice, and in protest over the moves to reduce charges against Anderson. The decision on Anderson is expected at a court hearing at Bhopal District Court on August 26- 27.

(5) Greenpeace is working as part of an international coalition of NGO groups named AaCcTt( Action Against Corporate Crime and Toxic Terror) whose constituents are: the Bhopal Gas Affected Women Stationery Workers Association, Bhopal Gas Affected Pensioners Association, Bhopal Group for Information and Action, National Campaign For Justice in Bhopal, The Other Media and CorpWatch.