THE BHOPAL DISASTER - A CASE HISTORY

BYRONALD J. WILLEY, P.E.

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITYPREPARED FOR SACHE

A PRODUCT OF THE CCPS-AICHENEW YORK, NEW YORK © 1998

The following slides are excerpts from:

See the SACHE module notes for sources and additional information

Bhopal is a large central India city, the Madhya Pradesh state capital.

1961 population: 102,0001981 population: 896,000

Much of this growth came from migration from surrounding rural areas.

Many migrants could not afford city housing and became squatters, creating slums and shantytowns.

By 1984, Bhopal had 156 slum colonies.

Reprinted with permission from Chem. Eng. News, 62(50), p. 6. Copyright 1984 American Chemical Society.

The Union Carbide plant located in Bhopal was owned by Union Carbide (India) Ltd., or UCIL. Union Carbide Corporation held 50.9% of the shares of UCIL. The government of India owned ~25%, and 24,000 other shareholders owned the remainder.

Reprinted with permission from Chem. Eng. News, 63(6), p. 61. Copyright 1985 American Chemical Society.

The Agricultural Products Division of UCIL began operating the Bhopal plant in 1969. The production of methyl isocyanate (MIC), an intermediate in the production of Sevin® pesticide, began in 1978 as a result of a required backward plant integration.

Reprinted with permission from Chem. Eng. News, 66(1), p. 8.Copyright 1988 American Chemical Society.

Two slums were located very near the UCIL plant, in an area not zoned for residential use. The plant fenceline can be seen in the upper right.

Reprinted with permission from Chem. Eng. News, 63(6), p. 63.Copyright 1985 American Chemical Society.

When the UCIL plant was first built, it was situated in an industrial area with no residential areas nearby.

Reprinted from J Haz Matls 17, M.P. Singh and S. Ghosh,"Bhopal Gas Tragedy: Model Simulation of the Dispersion Scenario,” p.1, © 1987, with permission from Elsevier

Because of the slums built up around the plant over time, many thousands of people were exposed to a cloud of MIC when it was released from the plant in 1984.

Factors contributing to the severity of consequences included MIC vapors being heavier than air, the release occurring at night when dispersion is less, and hospitals and dispensaries being unable to cope with the number of victims.

Reprinted from J Haz Matls 17, M.P. Singh and S. Ghosh,"Bhopal Gas Tragedy: Model Simulation of the Dispersion Scenario,” p.1, © 1987, with permission from Elsevier

By 1994, the official government estimate of the death toll had risen to 4,000. One report gave the number treated in the state hospitals as ~170,000, with many in critical

condition. People continued to die of the effects over a period of years [Lees 1996].

Time 17 Dec 1984 (photo side credits Tucci/Liaison)

THE BHOPAL DISASTER - A CASE HISTORY

BYRONALD J. WILLEY, P.E.

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITYPREPARED FOR SACHE

A PRODUCT OF THE CCPS-AICHENEW YORK, NEW YORK © 1998

See the SACHE module on Bhopal for the process and chemistry involved, possible causes of the release, and several additional contributing factors such as safety

systems that were not in operation atthe time of the incident.