In a setback to the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy, a US court ruled that neither Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) nor its former chairman Warren Anderson were liable for environmental remediation or pollution-related claims.
The US District Judge John Keena in Manhattan dismissed a lawsuit that accused the company of causing soil and water pollution around the Bhopal plant where a gas leak had claimed thousands of lives in 1984.
The judge ruled that the UCC and Anderson were not liable for remediation or pollution-related claims by people living around the plant. The court was hearing a lawsuit filed by Bhopal residents against UCC, which is now owned by Dow Chemicals, and its chairperson Andersen for injuries caused by toxic waste from the plant.
The court ruled that it was Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL), and not its parent company UCC, was responsible for water pollution in the area.
The residents near the plant reacted strongly saying they were expecting such verdict ahead of the London Olympics as the Dow Chemicals is a sponsor of the games.
The UCC said that it has sold its stake in UCIL, which later changed it name to Eveready Industries India Ltd, ten years after the gas tragedy. The court's decision not only dismisses the lawsuit but also clarifies that UCC has no liability related to the pollution. It said that the site ownership as well the state government is responsible for the pollution.
The petitioner Janki Bai Sahu and others had alleged “toxic substances seeped into a ground aquifer, polluting the soil and drinking water supply in residential communities surrounding the former Bhopal plant site”. They alleged that exposure to soil and drinking water polluted by hazardous waste produced UCIL caused injuries.
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