The Bhopal Gas Disaster
The Bhopal case asks whether multinational companies may operate hazardous facilities under weaker safety conditions than they would accept in wealthier countries. In December 1984, methyl isocyanate escaped from a Union Carbide India pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. Thousands of people died, and hundreds of thousands were exposed to the toxic gas. The disaster involved inadequate maintenance, ineffective or unavailable safety systems, poor emergency planning, and a community that had little information about the chemicals stored nearby. The ethical question extends beyond the actions of plant employees: how should responsibility be divided among the local subsidiary, its American parent company, regulators, designers, and managers who approved cost reductions? The case illustrates environmental injustice, the public’s right to know about industrial hazards, and the obligation to provide the same basic level of protection to communities regardless of their wealth or location.