I was going to do a standard Daily Chat thread. Had it written up. Had a completely unrelated image chosen, since none of today's events and birthdays readily suggested one. But as I typed up the information about what was supposed to have been today's last item, it felt wrong to do it as just another item.
Today is the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster. Disaster doesn't seem like the right word, somehow. Approximately 3800 people died in the immediate aftermath of the leak. Somewhere between 8000 to 10,000 were dead within 72 hours and estimates of injuries range from 150 to 600 thousand. In the 25 years since the disaster, it is estimated that 25,000 have died from injuries and illness resulting from the disaster.
Warren Anderson, who was the CEO of Union Carbide in 1984, was arrested at that time but released on bail. He fled the country and has not been extradited by the United States. The company paid $470 million in damages and less than $200 million of that had been paid out to victims and survivors as of 2002. By contrast, Exxon was fined $5,000,000,000 for the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which resulted in no human deaths. Apparently American wildlife is more valuable than Indian humans?
