Bhopal

Jackson Browning Report - Union Carbide Corp.

UNION CARBIDE: DISASTER AT BHOPAL

by Jackson B. Browning Retired Vice President, Health, Safety, and Environmental Programs Union Carbide Corporation Copyright 1993

Reprinted with permission from Crisis Response: Inside Stories on Managing Under Siege, edited by Jack A. Gottschalk, Visible Ink Press, a division of Gale Research, Detroit,Michigan.

THE TRAGEDY In the early hours of Monday, Dec. 3, 1984, a toxic cloud of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas enveloped the hundreds of shanties and huts surrounding a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. Later, as the deadly cloud slowly drifted in the cool night air through streets in surrounding sections, sleeping residents awoke, coughing, choking, and rubbing painfully stinging eyes. By thetime the gas cleared at dawn, many were dead or injured. Four months after the tragedy, the Indian government reported to its Parliament that 1,430 people had died. In 1991 the official Indian government panel charged with tabulating deaths and injuries updated the count to more than 3,800 dead and approximately 11,000 with disabilities. Although it was not known at the time, the gas was formedwhen a disgruntled plant employee, apparently bent on spoiling a batch of methyl isocyanate, added water to a storage tank. The water caused a reaction that built up heat and pressure in the tank, quickly transforming the chemical compound into a lethal gas that escaped into the cool night air. The plant was operated by Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL), just over 50 percent of which was owned byUnion Carbide Corporation. The first report of the disaster reached Union Carbide executives in the United States more than 12 hours after the incident. By 6:00 a.m. in the U.S., executives were gathering with technical, legal, and communications staff at the company's Danbury, Connecticut headquarters. Information was sparse but, as casualty estimates quickly climbed, the matter was soonrecognized as a massive industrial disaster.

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Jackson Browning Report - Union Carbide Corp.

The first press inquiry came at 4:30 a.m. in the U.S., marking the beginning of a deluge that, at its peak, reached 500 calls a day for several weeks. The scope of the Bhopal tragedy made it "page one" material in the weeks and months that followed. And, as its legal, political, technologicaland -- above all -- human aspects were explored, it became a persistent headline into the 1990s.

SETTING THE STAGE In 1984, Union Carbide reported sales of $9.5 billion, reflecting its position as one of the largest industrial companies in the United States and the world. International operations represented nearly 30 percent of total sales that year. India was one of three dozen countrieswhere the company had affiliates and business interests. Divided by industry segments, sales encompassed petrochemicals (28 percent); technology, services, and specialty products (26 percent); consumer products such as batteries, automotive supplies, and plastic wraps and bags (20 percent); industrial gases (16 percent); and metals and carbon products (10 percent). Financially, 1984 was a good yearfor Union Carbide. The company was pursuing ambitious commercial plans in the People's Republic of China. Twelve promising new highperformance specialty products were being marketed. A joint venture with Shell Chemical Company was moving forward. Union Carbide was keeping pace as the U.S. economy recovered from the persistent recession that had begun in 1981. In 1984, Union Carbide India Limitedwas celebrating its 50th anniversary. UCIL had sales of about $200 million annually. It operated 14 plants, and was organized into five operating divisions with 9,000 employees. It was a diversified manufacturing concern. The shares of the Indian company, publicly traded on the Calcutta Stock Exchange, were held by more than 23, 000 shareholders. About 24 percent of the shares were owned by...