union carbide fights for its life---new

8/9/2019 Union Carbide Fights for Its Life---new

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UNION CARBIDE FIGHTS FORITS LIFE



An Overview

Early hours of Dec. 3, 1984, Bhopal.

Poisonous Methyl isocyanate (40 43 tonnes)

leaked from Union Carbide plant.

More than 2000 people died & thousands injured.(Exact data still not available. Approx. 1 person

dies every day because of effects of the gas.)



The company manufactured Sevin ( Carbaryl)

It was Americas 37th largest industrialcorporation & 3rd largest chemical maker.

It had always been a stable company.

High safety records, Growth and Financialstability.

But within a day of tragedy the companys stockprices dropped by 27%.



No precise conclusion

Possibly three causes

1. Equipment failure2. Human error

3. Sabotage

However one lawsuit against the Company claims thecorporation for its negligence in designing the plant.

The technology used at Bhopal plant was inferior to thetechnology used in America & Europe.

Causes Of Disaster



Some evidence show that Union Carbide was aware of someof the deficiencies at the Bhopal plant.

Two years prior to the tragedy, the company inspectors fromU.S. found 10 major deficiencies.

Next year the Bhopal plant confirmed that all the problemshad been solved.

The U.S. inspectors did not return to India to confirm this.



The Indian government openly blamed Union Carbide forthe tragedy.

There was a speculation that the disgruntled managers atthe Bhopal plant might have sabotaged the system.

The gauges supposed to warn not functioninng properly atthat time.



The plant was permanently closed.

Some compensation awarded to the victims and theirfamilies.



Considering what you have learned, what do youthink happened at Bhopal?

Question : 1



Approx. 43 tones of MIC was filled in tank no. 610C .

The maximum allowable limit for the tank was 50%, butthe tank was filled up to 87% (43 tones).

Immediate cause of the pressure build up was the

exotherimic reaction caused by contamination of water intotank 610C.

Due to pressure build up the safety valve was opened andgas escaped into the atmosphere.



The refrigeration system was designed to cool the liquid atthe temperature of zero degree celcius.

But the refrigeration system was shut down and water waspoured around the tank to cool it. So the temperature was not

maintained at zero degree celcius.On the day of disaster the water leaked into the tank causingbuild-up of pressure and temperature.

Pouring was continued.

To prevent the tank from exploding the safety valve openedand released the gas.



Do you think that Union Carbide did not exhibit socialresponsibility by designing the plant less than failsafe, if at all ?

Question : 2



The technology used at Bhopal plant was inferior.

The maintenance and safety standards were lower comparedto the U.S.& Europe plants.

The companys motive was to earn more profits.

Almost none of the safety systems at the time of disasterwere functioning.

The Vent gas scrubber was designed to take feed rate of 190

pounds per hour at 35 degree C at the pressure of 15 psig.But at

the time of disaster MIC poured through at the rate of 40,000pounds per hour at 200 degree C and 180 psig.

The vent gas scrubber contained inadequate quantity of caustic soda.



Water curtain/spray could rise upto 13 meters while the gasevolved at the height of 33 meters.

The mandatory refrigeration for MIC unit was shut down forthree months to save money.

Other plants in U.S. & Europe had a safety systemautomatically control with manual back-up devices.But theywere manual at Bhopal.

There were not any emergency planning measures and local

authority knew nothing about the dangers of MIC. Union Carbide was aware of all these deficiencies but in orderto cut the cost no measures were taken to improve thecondition of the plant .



This has led to loss of thousands of lives.

Also the company paid only $ 470 million as an amount forcompensation against $ 3000 million demanded by thegovernment of India.

From this amount each victim received $ 500 (only sevencents per day). This was a very little amount which equals tothe amount needed for one cup of tea and a piece of bread.

So in true sense the Union Carbide didnt exhibit corporate

social responsibility.



Would you hold Union Carbide ethically responsiblefor the death of thousands of Indians? If so, explain.

Question : 3



Yes, the Union Carbide was ethically responsible for the deathof thousands of people.

The safety system used in the plant was sub-standard. Alsothe parts used were of poor quality and older technology.

A series of incidences of gas leakage occurred in previousyears. They are :

Dec 1981- A worker was killed while handlingphosgene.

Feb 1982- 25 workers were hospitalized followingleakage in pipes carrying chlorine, MIC and HCl.

Dec 1982- Massive leak of chlorine gas -16 affected.

1983-84-The events of leakage continued.



In spite of this many number of incidences the company didnot took any step to rectify the situation.

Also, the plant did not give vital information about thestorage and handling of hazardous & dangerous material.

Effect of MIC on humans and the antidote treatment was notknown to the medical fraternity and such knowledge if available was not disseminated to the emergency services.

There was an absence of proper warning system in the plant.

Economy measures, overriding safety concerns.



What, in your judgement is the possibility that eitherIndian management was less vigilant about theirsafety responsibilities or some one was responsiblefor committing sabotage?

Question : 4



A series of incidences of gas leakage took place during theperiod of 1981-1984 in the plant.

Issue of danger to Bhopal from a pesticide plant was raisedin the Legislative Assembly of the state.

An accident investigation committee examined the issueand concluded that the plant was fail safe.

The Labour Minister stated the assembly,A sum of Rs.25crore has been invested in the plant.The plant in not a small

stone which can be shifted elsewhere. There is no danger toBhopal nor will there ever be.

This sort of negligence was responsible for the tragedy. Sogovernment was responsible.



A research conducted by the U.S. officers regarding the

sabotage had shown that there was no such involvement of aworker.

The U.S. officials left India without submitting the report to

government of India.

union carbide fights for its life---new

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