India paves way for Bhopal clean-up court order

A US court could order chemical firm Union Carbide to clean up the site of a gas leak that killed thousands of people in central India nearly 20 years ago, now that the Indian government says it has no objection to the move.

The Indian government is forwarding a “no objection” certificate to the court, which would allow a US judge to reconsider an earlier court decision to dismiss legal action against US-based Union Carbide, which relieved the company of responsibility to clean up the site.

Union Carbide was bought by Michigan-based Dow Chemical in 2001.

The gas leak in the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, the capital of central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, killed an estimated 12,000 people on December 3, 1984, in one of the world’s worst industrial accidents.

In a statement released late yesterday, the Indian government said it has “decided to convey its ‘no objection’ to the US Court of Appeals” to the environmental clean-up of the soil and water sources in Bhopal contaminated in the leak.

In March, the 2nd Circuit US Court of Appeals in New York ruled that a lower court judge could reconsider its decision dismissing legal action against Union Carbide in the US should India send a “no objection” certificate.

“The no objection given by the government of India gives its consent to the US court to direct the Union Carbide Corporation to clean up the mess it left behind in its plant in Bhopal,” the statement said.

Dow Chemical spokesman John Musser said he expected the dismissal to stand even if the court reconsiders the case.

Clean-up responsibility now rests with the Madhya Pradesh government or with the Indian company that leased the land before the state took it over several years ago, Mr Musser said.

“In either case, that’s neither Union Carbide or Dow Chemical.”

In the accident, toxic methyl isocyanate gas leaked from Union Carbide’s pesticide plant, leading to painful deaths local water and soil being contaminated.

Some 600,000 people have filed compensation claims with the Indian government and the victims have been demanding the extradition of then-chairman of Union Carbide Warren Anderson to face trial for manslaughter.

Union Carbide paid the Indian government $470m (€389.6m) as part of an out-of-court settlement in 1989. The government dropped the charges against the company and Anderson.