FORMER UNION CARBIDE SITE STILL HEAVILY CONTAMINATED 15 YEARS ON

29 November 1999

Mumbai/Amsterdam - The site around the former Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, India - where one of the world's worst industrial disasters took place 15 years ago - is still highly contaminated by toxic chemicals, according to a report published today by Greenpeace.

In its report entitled "The Bhopal Legacy," Greenpeace highlights that the factory site is still extensively contaminated by toxic chemicals such as mercury and hazardous organochlorines. Some of the organochlorines found in groundwater supplying the neighbouring communities of gas victims are known to have been used at the plant during its routine operations. The levels of mercury found in a sample taken in conjuction with local Bhopal support groups in May 1999 from a location within the factory, were between 20,000 and 6 million times higher than background levels which would be expected in uncontaminated soils. Mercury is highly toxic to the central nervous system.

Greenpeace has declared the former Union Carbide factory in Bhopal a Global Toxic Hotspot and calls for Union Carbide to clean up the toxic legacy and hazardous wastes left at the site when the plant was closed down fifteen years ago on December 3 1984 after a poisonous gas leak from the pesticide factory killed an estimated 16,000 people and injured as many as 500,000.

"The results of the survey indicate severe contamination by toxic chemicals at a number of locations within the old plant. The extent and nature of toxic chemicals found in the ground water indicate the need for immediate action to be taken to provide clean drinking water supplies for the local communities, and to prevent further releases of chemicals from the factory site itself" said senior Greenpeace research scientist Ruth Stringer.

In the worst contaminated sample of groundwater taken from a handpump in Atal Ayub Nagar along the Northeast corner of the factory, concentrations of carbon tetrachloride, a substance suspected to cause cancer, exceeded limits set by the World Health Organisation by 1705 times. Chloroform in the same sample exceeded the USEPA standards for drinking water by 260 times. According to the report, the presence of the chlorinated chemicals in the well waters near the Carbide plant is "undoubtedly due to the long-term industrial contamination of surrounding environment" by the Carbide factory. The report concluded that consumption of water, contaminated by chemicals found in the study, for long periods could cause significant health damage.

"The contaminated condition of the Union Carbide site is a prime example of corporate irresponsibility and the inability or unwillingness of Governments to rein in corporations at the cost of public safety and environmental health," said Nityanand Jayaraman, Greenpeace's Toxics campaigner in India. "The fact that Union Carbide has escaped without cleaning up the site exposes the gaping loophole in the legal and administrative infrastructure to ensure corporate responsibility. The international community needs to devise means of ensuring that there are no more Bhopals."

Some of the chemicals found at the Carbide factory are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that do not degrade easily in the environment and are capable of causing long-term and debilitating damage to life.

Launching the Toxic Free Asia tour, Greenpeace aims to expose industrial pollution and toxic trade and raise issues of clean production and communities' right to know in the continent. The flagship Rainbow Warrior will be visiting India, Thailand, the Philippines, China and Japan.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
- Campaign / Media Liaison in India: Nityanand Jayraman Tel: + 91-9820182274 and Shailendra Yashwant, Tel: + 919820182304;
- Ruth Stringer and Kevin Brigden, Greenpeace Research Laboratories, representatives in India (please contact Nityanand Jayraman and Shailendra Yashwant).
- Greenpeace Research Laboratories, Exeter UK, Paul Johnston and David Santillo Tel: 44-1392 263 917;
- Greenpeace International, Media Coordinator, Teresa Merilainen, Tel. 31-20-5249545.
- Rainbow Warrior: + 873 130 2412 Note: This is Satellite phone which will cost between $5-$10 USD per minute.
Click here for the Bhopal Legacy