Notes from a talk by Clive Bradley at North London AWL branch, 14 December 2004
The disaster took place on the night of 2-3 December 1984. Just after midnight, poison gas leaked from a chemical factory, which killed up to 8,000 people immediately, and between 16,000 and 30,000 people over time. It was a terrible atrocity, which symbolises global inequality and the reality of capitalism to people in the 'third world'.
Background
The factory was owned by Union Carbide, a big, US-owned, multi-national chemical company which manufactures products including batteries, candles, tyres, matches, vinyl and carrier bags.
Bhopal is the capital of the state of Madhya Pradesh, India.
In the 1970s, Union Carbide set up a factory three miles outside Bhopal to manufacture insecticide. 'Sevin' was considered to be a "miracle pesticide", which would both be very effective in crop treatment, and would bring thousands of jobs to a very poor area.
But the manufacturing process involved the production of the highly lethal methyl isocyanate (MIC), and phosgene, also known as mustard gas.
Any factory using this process would have to be very safe. Union Carbide had also set up a similar factory in West Virginia, USA - which had much higher safety standards than the plant in Bhopal.
The market for the product of the Bhopal factory was not as big as Union Carbide had anticipated, so it was not making "enough" money. There had been cuts in staffing levels and safety standard.
What happened that night
There were four key safety procedures at the factory.
- MIC must be kept frozen.
- De-contamination towers.
- A 120ft flare.
- An alarm.
On the night of the gas leak, no manufacturing was taking place, and NONE of the four safety procedures were functioning. Water got into the MIC tanks, which caused an explosion. A cloud of toxic gas spread over the shanty towns around the factory.
As it was heavier than air, the gas cloud sank to the ground and into people's homes. By the morning, up to 8,000 people were dead. They died horrible deaths, as the gas constricted their throats, and made them turn green, bleed at the eyes and choke to death.
Union Carbide did not issue a formal warning until three hours after the leak.
Thousands more died in the wake of the disaster.
Union Carbide gets away with it
Warren Anderson, the head of Union Carbide, went to Bhopal in the wake of the disaster. He was arrested, detained in a hotel rather than a prison, then bailed. There were angry demonstrations against him. He returned to the USA, and has never gone back to India to face trial.
Union Carbide - which has since been bought out by Dow Chemicals, has refused to accept any responsibility. Last year - 19 years afterwards - it paid out very small sums in compensation, averaging £300.
Before 1984, Union Carbide had evidence that the production process was potentially dangerous. There had been a report that the West Virginia plant was not safe. The Bhopal plant was much less safe, reflecting the inequality between the USA and India, less stringent laws, and a weaker trade union movement.
In 1981, a worker at the Bhopal factory had died after a small amount of phosgene had got onto his clothes. The union organised a hunger strike. The company responded by banning the union.
Two reports had been suppressed:
- a 1960s report on MIC toxicity, following tests on rats, which showed how lethal MIC really was.
- a report showing the existence of an antidote to the poisonous substance HCA
Bhopal today
Today, twenty years later, 43% of women in the area do not have periods, and children are still being born witth deformities. The most common cancers are cervical cancer and leukaemia.
25,000 tonnes of toxic waste remain at the site, not securely stored, leaking into the wells from which local people draw their water.
The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal raises money for a hospital staffed by survivors which provides free health care.
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The Bhopal disaster was the product of a capitalist system which puts profits before human life and exploits global inequalities. To prevent further such disasters, we need a new system in which workers control production so that they can prioritise safety, and where production is for need not for profit, so there is no incentive to 'cut corners'. We need thoroughgoing democracy, to prevent the sort of collusion that allows companies to suppress reports, endanger life, and get away with mass murder.
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