After 25 years and an alleged human toll of 25,000, an Indian court today convicted seven former Union Carbide (UC) officials of negligence for their role in the Bhopal gas tragedy. The former employees, all of them Indian, were sentenced to two years in prison and fined more than $2,200 each.
The verdict has enraged activists and victims, who blasted the verdict as being a “joke on the people of Bhopal.”
All seven convicted have posted bail, which suggests that they plan to appeal the verdict or the sentence. The bail has since been granted. The Indian government has long and unsuccessfully attempted to extradite Warren Anderson, the American who was the chairman of UC during the time of the accident.
In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, UC, now owned by Dow Chemicals, distanced itself from the case saying the plant was owned and operated by Union Carbide India ltd (UCIL). UC sold its majority stake in UCIL in 1994; UCIL was renamed Eveready Industries India Ltd. and currently manufactures everything from batteries to tea.
The UC statement was also surprisingly lengthy and defensive for a corporate response. It claimed that NGOs and activists in India had repeatedly blocked remediation efforts. It also alleged that its $470 million settlement with the Indian Government was not distributed until 2006 – and equaled $1.5 billion with interest.
The Bhopal gas leak, considered the world’s worst industrial disaster, is cited as the catalyst for changing process safety and risk management across industries.
Bhopal Gas Tragedy Resources:
The Bhopal Medical Appeal
Union Carbide’s Bhopal Information Center
Govt. of Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal page
