The Accident Has Never Been Cleaned Up, So After 20 Years He Decided To Don A Suit And Do Something
Did you know that growing food was so risky?
It was a silent disaster in the night.
30 years ago, a gas leak from a Union Carbide-owned agricultural chemical plant caused a massive cloud of poison to envelope a sleeping city. Over half a million people in Bhopal, India, were exposed to toxic gas. 8,000 people died immediately or in the following weeks. 100,000 suffer chronic and incurable diseases today.
People in Bhopal and elsewhere continue to request that Dow Chemical (the company that now owns Union Carbide) provide support for people still suffering — victims received very little compensation — and clean up the chemical plant. The derelict plant sits unremedied, polluting drinking water.
After 20 years, the Yes Men shook things up.
10 years ago, on the 20th anniversary of the world's largest agricultural industry disaster, a member of the activist group the Yes Men posed as a Dow Chemical representative and issued a statement that Dow had agreed to compensate those harmed in the accident. The BBC fell for it. Watch what happened:
The BBC gave Bichlbaum a hard time about misleading people. What do you think?
There is some good news: People in the U.S. have divested from Dow, and the Indian government has agreed to provide financial support for some victims.
This isn't just a one-time incident. Here are six others:
- Fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, April 17, 2013. An explosion occurred at the West Fertilizer Company storage and distribution facility in West, Texas, 18 miles (29 km) north of Waco while emergency services personnel were responding to a fire at the facility. At least 14 people were killed, more than 160 were injured, and more than 150 buildings were damaged or destroyed.
- AZF fertilizer factory, Toulouse, France. Sept. 21, 2001.An explosion at the factory killed 29 and injured 2,500.
- The Sandoz disaster in Schweizerhalle, Switzerland, Nov. 1, 1986, released tons of toxic agrochemicals into the Rhine River.
- Dec. 3, 1984: The Bhopal disaster in India caused by poisonous methyl isocyanate caused the pressure relief system to vent large amounts to the atmosphere at a Union Carbide India Limited plant. Death toll estimates range from 4,000 to 20,000, with severe human and animal health problems continuing up to the present day.
- The Minamata disaster, Japan, 1932-1968, was caused by the dumping of mercury compounds in Minamata Bay, Japan. The Chisso Corporation, a fertilizer and later petrochemical company, was found responsible for polluting the bay for 37 years. It is estimated that over 3,000 people suffered various deformities, severe mercury poisoning symptoms, or death.
- Texas City, April 16, 1947. 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate, used in fertilizer and blasting, detonated, creating a chain reaction of fires and explosions killing at least 581 people, including all but one member of the Texas City fire department.
- Oppau, Germany, Sept. 21, 1921. A tower silo storing 4,500 tonnes of a mixture of ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded at a BASF plant in Oppau, killing 500-600 people and injuring about 2,000 more. Our fertilizers and pesticides are dangerous, toxic chemicals. Isn't it a twisted paradox that so many people die in order to create chemicals we use to grow food so people can live?