In a setback to 1984 Bhopal gastragedy victims, a US court has held that neither UnionCarbide nor its former chairman Warren Anderson were liablefor environmental remediation or pollution-related claims atthe firm's former chemical plant in Bhopal.
US District Judge John Keena in Manhattan dismissed alawsuit accusing the company of causing soil and waterpollution around the Bhopal plant due to the disaster, andruled that Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) and Anderson werenot liable for remediation or pollution-related claims.
The court ruled that it was Union Carbide India Ltd, andnot its parent company UCC that was responsible for thegeneration and disposal of the waste that polluted drinkingwater, and the liability rests with the state government.
Plaintiffs Janki Bai Sahu and others had alleged that"toxic substances seeped into a ground aquifer, polluting thesoil and drinking water supply in residential communitiessurrounding the former Bhopal Plant site".
They alleged that exposure to soil and drinking waterpolluted by hazardous waste produced Union Carbine India Ltdcaused injuries. "The summary judgement record certainly indicates thatUCIL consulted with UCC about its waste disposal plans and onnon-environmental business matter like its strategic plan.
However, nothing in the evidence suggests the necessity ofUCC's approval for the actions about which plaintiffscomplain," the court said in its order.
"Moreover, there is no evidence in this extensive recordindicating that UCIL manufactured pesticides on UCC's behalf,entered into contracts or other business dealings on UCC'sbehalf, or otherwise acted in UCC's name," it said.
The industrial accident, the worst in Indian history, ledto the leak of poisonous methyl isocyanate, claiming thousandsof lives in the Madhya Pradesh capital. In his written opinion, Judge Keenan concluded that ?even when viewing the evidence in the most favourable lightfor the plaintiffs ? UCC is not directly liable, nor liable asan agent of UCIL, nor liable under a veil-piercing analysis.