US court frees Union Carbide of liability in Bhopal gas disaster case

Company need not pay for environmental remediation or pollution-related claims, says district judge

In yet another blow to the survivors of the Bhopal gas disaster, a US district court has dismissed a plea seeking to make Union Carbide liable for contamination caused by its pesticide plant in Bhopal. Seventeen survivors of the 1984 gas leak tragedy had filed a case against the corporation in 1999 in the US district court in Manhattan. On June 26, judge John Keenan ruled that Union Carbide and its former chairperson Warren Anderson are not liable for environmental remediation or pollution-related claims made by residents near the plant.

The plaintiffs had submitted to the court that there is severe groundwater and soil contamination around the plant because of the mishap and the chemicals stored at the abandoned plant site. They alleged that they sustained injuries from exposure to soil and drinking water polluted by hazardous waste in the pesticide plant. The case—Janki Bai Sahu v Union Carbide, 04-cv-08825—in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Manhattan) is one among the numerous cases against the corporation being heard in different courts in India and the US.

Series of setbacks for survivors

The lawsuit said Dow Chemicals, which in 2001 bought over Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), should pay for the cleaning of the site and adjoining areas and for the damage to the health and property of the people still living around the factory. It demanded that UCC and its then chairperson Warren Anderson be held responsible for the pollution and contamination caused by the December 1984 gas leak.

The case timeline

1999: survivors of the 1984 gas leak in Bhopal file suit—Bano v Union Carbide in district court of Manhattan, New York
It demands compensation for the victims of the gas leak as well as for pollution from Union Carbide pesticide plant
2003: case dismissed on the grounds of statute of limitation
2003: Title of the case changed to Janki Bai Sahu v Union Carbide and Warren Anderson. Case is filed in the same district court by 17 survivors living near the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal
Case sought damages, medical monitoring of patients affected by soil and drinking water contamination
The case states Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) and Warren Anderson should be held accountable on the grounds that they were direct participants and joint tortfeasors in the activities that resulted in the pollution and that that they worked in concert with Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) to cause, exacerbate, or conceal the pollution. It further states that UCIL acted as UCC's alter ego and emphasised the need to pierce the corporate veil
May 18, 2005: UCC and Anderson move the court to dismiss the lawsuit
2005: Survivors appeal against this in the higher court
The Manhattan district court gives a summary judgement in favour of UCC and Anderson while withholding ruling on corporate veil piercing demands by the plaintiffs. This was done to give time to the plaintiff to bring more evidence or to “make discovery”
November 20, 2006: Court gives judgement in favour of Anderson and UCC on the veil piercing claim by the plaintiffs
The plaintiffs appeal against this judgement and the earlier order of not holding UCC and Anderson responsible for the pollution in the higher court in the US
2008: Case is reinstated in the same Manhattan district court with the direction that the above orders be dismissed (both decisions were vacated)
The case was remanded to the district court for “limited further proceedings in connection with the considerations” on the previous judgements
2009: hearing begins
June 26, 2012: Court rules in favour of the defendants, dismissing all claims of their liability and participation in the 1984 Bhopal gas leak; directs both the plaintiffs and defendants to file a response of no more than 5 pages on or before August 1, 2012