SchNEWS the free weekly direct action news sheet covering social and environmental issues in the UK and abroad including climate change, arms industry, ecological direct action and more... Uncertified - SchMOVIES DVD Collection 2008
Subscribe to receive SchNEWS erery week by email View all of our back issues Find out about the history of SchNEWS and how it's put together every week Search for contacts and links of protest and community groups in UK and abroad A selection of How To guides for direct action andother fun stuff Previous articles and hot topics SchMOVIES
Copyleft - Information for direct action - Published weekly in Brighton since 1994

Home | Friday 17th July 2009 | Issue 684

Back to the Full Issue

DOW AND NOWT

This Monday (13th) the international campaign to bring justice for the survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide (UC) chemical spill in Bhopal held a demo at Dow Chemical’s office in Staines. Dow bought out UC in 2001, but they are doing their utmost not to take ownership of Bhopal’s deadly legacy. 

The world’s largest industrial accident (See SchNEWS 580) on the night of December 3rd 1984, saw 42 tonnes of methyl isocyanate gas pouring out of the UC pesticide plant, killing up to 10,000 within the first 72 hours, with a subsequent death toll of an estimated 25,000. The mess was never cleared up, let alone due compensation paid out, and the toxicity continues to wreak havoc. 

The 20 campaigners at Staines included Sathyu Sarangi, long-term Bhopal activist, and founder of the Sambhavna Clinic which treats survivors. Sathyu estimates that up to 150,000 people are still chronically ill as a result of the spill. Involved since day one of the disaster, Sathyu’s efforts to help victims and bring the US corporation to account have seen him serve three prison sentences, endure beatings and have a contract put on his life. 

The demo was accompanied by the latest stunt from pranksters The Yes Men who, on the same day, ‘launched’ a new brand of bottled mineral water, B’eau-Pal, featuring water from hand pumps near the disaster site. The minerals in this water pack a punch: tests show that it holds 2000 times the EPA limit of Carbon Tetrachloride – a deadly compound which affects the nervous system, liver and kidneys. Worryingly, this figure has tripled since 1999, demonstrating the way toxins continue to leech into the water system. Other chemicals present in B’eau-Pal include the carcinogenic Dichlorobenzene. A report by the Sambhavna Trust shows that groundwater, vegetables, and breast milk in the area are contaminated by toxic quantities of nickel, chromium, mercury, lead, and volatile organic compounds. 

This year is the 25th anniversary of the disaster, and, in the build-up, the campaign are touring Europe in a bus, starting in Germany in October. There will be international demos this December – for more see www.bhopal.org 

* For more about B’eau-Pal see www.theyesmen.org/blog/dow-runs-scared-from-water

Keywords: bhopal, dow chemicals, staines, the yes men, union carbide


 

Subscribe to SchNEWS: Send 1st Class stamps (e.g. 10 for next 9 issues) or donations (payable to Justice?). Or £15 for a year's subscription, or the SchNEWS supporter's rate, £1 a week. Ask for "originals" if you plan to copy and distribute. SchNEWS is post-free to prisoners.