Dow to NDTV on no Bhopal liability

New Delhi: As the blame game continues over the Bhopal gas tragedy verdict, the main question that arises is: Who is responsible for cleaning up the Bhopal gas disaster site? (Read: Who will clean up Bhopal mess?)

Activists campaigning for the victims say the next stage is to make Dow Chemicals pay for cleaning up the toxic site. In 1999, Union Carbide Corp was bought by US-based Dow Chemicals.

In 2004, the Jabalpur High Court began hearing the case of who should pay for the sanitization of the defunct Carbide plant.

In 2005 the Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Ram Vilas Paswan, asked Dow to deposit 100 crores for the clean-up. (Read: Govt did its job, judiciary took time, says Moily) The court has still not decided the issue. Dow has repeatedly challenged the view that it has any links, through its purchase of UCC, to the Bhopal tragedy.

Dow also claims that any liability for Bhopal was settled by UCC in the 470 million dollar settlement accepted by the Indian government in 1989.

Now, Dow goes into considerable detail to explain why it believes it's not liable for Bhopal. Several of the factors it lists are being challenged in court.

In a letter to NDTV, Dow spokesman Scot Wheeler says:

"I could not disagree more with any of the points made by activists that you have shared with me.

There are some who continue to try to affix responsibility for the Bhopal tragedy to Dow, but the fact is that Dow never owned or operated the facility in Bhopal and these efforts are misdirected.

We do have sympathy for the plight of those who are victims of the tragedy and its aftermath and one area where we would all agree on is that their issues do need to be addressed. The solution to this problem, however, rests in the hands of the Indian Central and state governments. (Read: Bhopal disaster: Could it have been averted?)

According to media reports, the government of Madhya Pradesh, which today controls the site, is working to get the site cleaned up and Dow is hopeful that they will be allowed to follow through with their plans.

In 1991, the Indian Supreme Court upheld and affirmed that settlement as complete and final. Union Carbide has no further legal responsibility for the matter.

The Dow Chemical Company has never owned or operated the facility in Bhopal nor does Dow have responsibility for any liability related to Bhopal. Remediation of the Bhopal plant site is under the oversight of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh in Jabalpur. We respect the court and the efforts that it is making to direct the remediation plan for the plant site, which is being funded by the state and central governments.

The Dow Chemical Company entered the picture well after the settlement between the Government of India and Union Carbide and Union Carbide India Limited and well after Union Carbide sold all Indian assets and was no longer doing business in India.

When Dow acquired the shares of Union Carbide Corporation in 2001, it was with the understanding that Union Carbide had settled its civil liability with the Government of India and that the Government and Indian Courts honour their decisions and their commitments.

Additionally, UCIL - the company that controlled the site when the tragic events took place - exists today in the form of Eveready Industries India Limited.

Eveready was, in fact, working on some remediation of the site when the state government of Madhya Pradesh revoked their lease in 1998 and took control of the site. Per your comment on Polluter Pays, any efforts by activists to apply the "polluter pays" principle to Dow are, again, misdirected. If the court responsible for directing clean-up efforts ultimately applies the "polluter pays" principle, it would seem that legal responsibility would fall to Union Carbide India Limited, which leased the land, operated the site and was a separate, publicly traded Indian company when the Bhopal tragedy occurred. In 1994, Union Carbide sold its interest in Union Carbide India Limited with the approval of the Indian Supreme Court. The company was renamed Eveready Industries India Limited and remains a viable company today.

The Dow Chemical Company has never had any presence in Bhopal nor does the company have responsibility for any liability relating to Bhopal.

Again, the Dow Chemical Company has never had any presence in Bhopal nor does the company have responsibility for any liability relating to Bhopal. Dow's responsibility, along with that of the rest of the industry, is to make sure something like this never happens again and to continue to drive industry performance improvements."

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Bhopal tragedy: Injustice continues in hospitals