Thaindian News

After waiting for 25 years for anyone to be convicted for their actions relating to the gas leak at Bhopal chemical plant in India, those convictions are finally being passed down, yet the local environment and population still continues to be polluted even today.

Seven people were convicted in an Indian court today for their part in the tragedy which was one of the world’s worst industrial catastrophes. The gas leak occurred in 1984, at a United States owned Union Carbide pesticide plant which was located in Bhopal, Central India.

It is estimated that anywhere from 7000 to 10,000 people were killed initially from the accidental release of toxic gases into the air. Another 15,000 are suspected to have died afterward from the lingering effects of the toxins which were released on that fateful day, Amnesty International reports. Thousands of kids have been born deformed as a result of those toxic gases as well.

The seven who were found guilty in the case were all Indian employees of the Indian arm of the Union Carbide company. They face up to two years in jail, although they once faced a sentence of up to 10 years, but those charges were since dropped. Warren Anderson, who was the chairman of Union Carbide at the time of the accident remains in the US and had not faced trial.

Amnesty International says that the case against Warren Anderson will likely never be resolved, and they feel that it is “another example of a foreign company committing an abuse of human rights and avoiding facing justice.” (Quoted theecologist.org)

Although blame is being pushed back and forth over the issue of clean up at the site, the area still remains contaminated, and toxic chemicals still leech into the ground, contaminating the water, and effecting the plants, animals, and people who live there. Dow Chemical, who now owns Union Carbide stated that the company had payed the compensation to the Indian government back in 1989, but the clean up was never executed, and Dow Chemical is unclear where that money went.

Dow Chemical insists that the Indian government is now responsible for the clean up. Many feel that no matter who is responsible, 25 years is a long time to play the ‘blame game’ while children continue to be born with defects and suffer for mistakes from the past.