Recent Events
.On October 4, 2010, a reservoir in Hungary ruptured releasing approximately 185 million gallons of toxic red sludge into the environment. A 12 foot high surge of red sludge flooded several towns and swept cars into the Marcal River. At least four people were killed, many animals, and it caused over 120 injuries. Even though Bhopal changed chemical safety, the world is still experiencing devastation due to industry almost 26 years later.
Hungarian Town Covered in Red Sludge
The Bhopal Gas Disaster has spurred numerous court cases by those seeking justice. Out of all the cases, only two have yielded results. One was the court case in 1989 that ordered Union Carbide Corporation to pay $470 million to the victims. The verdict of the other case was handed down on July 17, 2010. The verdict ordered that eight officals of UCC spend 2 years in prison and pay a fine of roughly $2000 each. One of the officals died before the verdict was decided. The residents of Bhopal have made it known that they feel that the officals got off with a slap on the wrists and have shown their outrage at the verdict.
Woman Protesting the Verdict
On the twentieth anniversary, December 3, 2004, a man named Jude Finisterra was interviewed on BBC World News. Finisterra claimed to be a Dow Representative and claimed that Dow was ready to take responsibility for the tragedy. He claimed that Dow had agreed to clean up the site and compensate those harmed in the incident by liquating Union Carbide and $12 billion. Following the announcement, Dow's share price fell 4.2% in 23 minutes, for a loss of $2 billion in market value. Dow quickly issued a statement saying that they had no employee by that name. Dow said the man interviewed was an impostor, not affiliated with Dow, and that his claims were a hoax. The BBC broadcast a correction and an apology. The statement was widely carried. "Jude Finisterra" was actually Andy Bichlbaum, a member of the activist prankster group The Yes Men. In 2002, The Yes Men issued a fake press release explaining why Dow refused to take responsibility for the disaster and started up a website, at "DowEthics.com", designed to look like the real Dow website but with what they felt was a more accurate cast on the events. In 2004, a producer for the BBC emailed them through the website requesting an interview, which they gladly obliged. Taking credit for the prank in an interview on Democracy Now!, Bichlbaum explains how his fake name was derived: "Jude is the patron saint of impossible causes and Finisterra means the end of the Earth". He used this approach to garner major media attention showing how Dow could help. Bichlbaum also appeared in a follow-up interview on the United Kingdom's Channel 4 News. During the interview he was repeatedly asked if he had considered the emotions and reaction of the people of Bhopal when producing the hoax. According to the interviewer, "there were many people in tears" upon having learned of the hoax. Each time, Bichlbaum said that, in comparison, what distress he had caused the people was minimal to that for which Dow was responsible. In the 2009 film The Yes Men Fix the World, the Yes Men travel to Bhopal to assess public opinion on their prank, and are surprised to find that the residents applaud their efforts to bring responsibility to the corporate world.
