The Union Carbide Corporation in Dec., 1986, while continuing to deny liability, filed a countersuit against the government of India and the State of Madhya Pradesh regarding the 1984 disaster at Carbide's Bhopal subsidiary. The company is charging the governments with "contributory" responsibility for the leak of poisonous gases, saying both governments knew of the toxicity of methyl isocyanate but failed to take adequate precautions to prevent a disaster. The government of India has sued Union Carbide for at least $3 billion in compensation for the victims of the leak of methyl isocyanate.
--Peter Montague, Ph.D.

Descriptor terms: lawsuits; liability; accidents; gas leaks; bhopal; union carbide; india; methyl isocyanate; precedents;