Bhopal
What do you guys think about Bhopal?
I understand Dow's argument: Union Carbide was a part of Dow neither when the tragedy occurred nor when Union Carbide settled with the Indian government. But Union Carbide did become part of Dow, and the settlement Union Carbide made does not seem to have adequately remedied the situation (according to a film I recently watched, the site has never been cleaned up, so the pollution continues to affect the people living in the area). Though perhaps Dow has no legal responsibility for Bhopal, it seems like is does have a moral responsibility to try to make things right. If you (Union Carbide and now Dow) pay someone (the Indian government) to fix a mess you made (disaster in Bhopal) but the mess isn't cleaned up (due to either inadequate funds or failures of the Indian government), you still have a moral responsibility to clean up the mess.
i've googled some on "bhopal", but i'm not impressed with what i find. don't know who of the two sides is more biased. i agree, however, that a lacking legal obligation does not necessarily absolve you from a moral obligation.
was the disaster caused by sabotage, incompetence, ill-will, corruption? how much of it was really ucc's fault? has ucc made adequate efforts to mitigate? how big is the damage? how much can one reasonably help at this point in time?
what do you think needs to be done?
i thought about this while you guys were incommunicado. using bob's favorite word, i "pondered" what i, personally, could do.
a) as a totally private citizen, i can give support to organizations that would clean up the area
b) as a shareholder, i can vote for measures to be taken in the shareholder meeting
c) as an employee, i can do nothing (conflict of interest)
as far as i can remember, i abstained from the bhopal vote at the last shareholder mtg - didn't want to do wrong. probably out of moral cowardice.
question is, though, what could even the company do - realistically. what do you guys suggest?
An insider looks at the chemical and politico-economic factors behind the tragedy
Reviewed by Ronald J. Willey
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