The Bhopal Incident
The Bhopal Incident
Professor: Ralph Blessing
The Bhopal Incident On December 3, 1984 the Union Carbide Pesticide plant leaked over forty tons of toxic gases into Bhopal India. The enormous poison gas leak in Bhopal was one of the most severe industrial incidents in history. The Union Carbide India, pesticide plant, was developed to help local farmers increase production. India was a part of “green revolution”; pesticides served approximately ten percent of India’s food crop, and were feeding over seventy million people yearly when the Bhopal incident occurred (Fischer, 1996). The tragedy on December 3, 1984 began when tank 610 containing over forty tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) became contaminated with water, causing a violent reaction that increased the gas pressure, resulting in a leak. Around 11 pm: the operator in the control room noticed pressure gauge connected to tank 610 had risen from 2 psi to 10 psi. An operator also noticed a MIC leak near the scrubber but was unable to locate its origin (Fischer, 1996). The pressure in the MIC tank had increased 55 psi. When the tank became overheated the operators tried to reduce the temperature with water not realizing that they made the situation worse. The operators also tried to use the vent gas scrubber, which was considered the main line of defense, but it also failed. At approximately 12 a.m., the relief valve of the tank gave away and large quantities of MIC gas leaked into the atmosphere (Fischer, 1996). An estimated number between fifteen-hundred and forty-five hundred individuals died immediately and thousands more were injured from the Bhopal incident. The death toll estimates varies vastly, proximate deaths from gas exposure go beyond seven thousand, following the night of the disaster (Fischer, 1996). Although no one really knows how the catastrophe occurred, there are several theories as to what took place on December 3, 1984. The Union Carbide company
Professor: Ralph Blessing
The Bhopal Incident On December 3, 1984 the Union Carbide Pesticide plant leaked over forty tons of toxic gases into Bhopal India. The enormous poison gas leak in Bhopal was one of the most severe industrial incidents in history. The Union Carbide India, pesticide plant, was developed to help local farmers increase production. India was a part of “green revolution”; pesticides served approximately ten percent of India’s food crop, and were feeding over seventy million people yearly when the Bhopal incident occurred (Fischer, 1996). The tragedy on December 3, 1984 began when tank 610 containing over forty tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) became contaminated with water, causing a violent reaction that increased the gas pressure, resulting in a leak. Around 11 pm: the operator in the control room noticed pressure gauge connected to tank 610 had risen from 2 psi to 10 psi. An operator also noticed a MIC leak near the scrubber but was unable to locate its origin (Fischer, 1996). The pressure in the MIC tank had increased 55 psi. When the tank became overheated the operators tried to reduce the temperature with water not realizing that they made the situation worse. The operators also tried to use the vent gas scrubber, which was considered the main line of defense, but it also failed. At approximately 12 a.m., the relief valve of the tank gave away and large quantities of MIC gas leaked into the atmosphere (Fischer, 1996). An estimated number between fifteen-hundred and forty-five hundred individuals died immediately and thousands more were injured from the Bhopal incident. The death toll estimates varies vastly, proximate deaths from gas exposure go beyond seven thousand, following the night of the disaster (Fischer, 1996). Although no one really knows how the catastrophe occurred, there are several theories as to what took place on December 3, 1984. The Union Carbide company