Bhopal

The Bhopal disaster—night of December 3, 1984—was the worst industrial disaster in the history of the world: the leakage of 40 tons of methyl isocianate (MIC) recorded at the plant that Union Carbide India, Limited (UCIL) had in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, one of the poorest and most overpopulated states in India. There were 6,903 dead, approximately 20,000 injured, and almost another 850,000 seriously affected in different ways.

Union Carbide Corporation occupied third place in the ranking of the chemical sector in the United States. It had assets of over $10,000 million and around 110,000 employees. Nevertheless, it underwent the worst financial situation in recent years: Net profits plummeted from $310 million in 1982 to $79 million in 1983.

Why did the disaster occur? The causes are related to diverse and complex factors. On the one hand, they were attributable to technical aspects and shortcomings detected in the safety mechanisms of the industrial plant, and the management was aware that it did not have adequate plans in place to resolve possible contingencies and accidents. On the other hand, they were related to the human factor: The morale of the workers was low, and it seems that there was not enough staff, technical training was rare, and the director did not have the required experience—excessive rotation of directors is apparent if we keep in mind that there were eight different general directors in 15 years. As regards the remaining reasons—and without wanting to annul the moral responsibility of the company for what happened—the insistence of the Indian authorities in keeping operative control of the subsidiary in the hands of nationals may have also contributed to the disaster by somehow removing the parent company from direct control of the plant.

The most noteworthy consequences of the disaster in Bhopal were the following: loss of human lives, illnesses, lack of confidence in the sector, more regulations, lawsuits, indemnities, loss of image, lack of worker motivation, and economic losses—in one week, the market value fell by almost $1,000 million. Months later, Union Carbide had to implement a restructuring plan: the closing of different plants and the dismissal of over 4,000 workers. It also had to defend itself against a hostile takeover attempt by GAF Corporation. Although the company managed to [Page 168]dodge problems successfully during this period, Union Carbide was no longer even a shadow of what it once had been. In the end, the company had to refocus its business and center it on the manufacturing of plastics and chemical products. It carried out a staff reduction program until only a little more than 12,000 employees remained, who were under pressure to declare that they were committed to the environment in the face of public opinion.