a Twitter thread from @redfishstream

1.

On this day in 1984, thousands of people in Bhopal, India, were gassed to death in the pesticide plant of U.S. company Union Carbide (UCC) It remains the worst corporate massacre in history and the victims are still fighting for justice. 🧵

2.

During the night of December 3, 1984, the leakage of 27 tons of toxic chemicals turned the UCC plant in Bhopal into a gas chamber. 3,800 people died instantly, and until today over 22,000 have died due to injuries from the leak. The disaster was entirely preventable.

3.

In its drive to maximize profits, UCC, today owned by Dow – one of the largest chemical producers in the world – cut safety corners and built the plant using untested technology. Aware of the dangers, it wrote them off as an acceptable “business risk”.

4.

UCC also ignored evidence from their own safety audits, as well as warnings from unions and local media about impending disaster at the plant. In the wake of the catastrophe, UCC abandoned the factory without cleaning up the chemicals it left behind.

5.

UCC didn’t bother to inform Bhopalis that those chemicals were leaking into the local soil and water supply. For years, over 30,000 people were being poisoned by their drinking water, and until today, impoverished families still live on the contaminated soil.

6.

The rate of birth defects in the contaminated area is ten times higher than in the rest of India. Cancer and other diseases are rife and the rate of contamination gets worse each year.

7.

In 1989, the Indian government settled on a payout of $500 per survivor, equal to 5 cents per day towards a lifetime of medical bills. Meanwhile, Dow continues rejecting UCC’s responsibility for the disaster and refuses to clean up the site.

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