Bhopol - Follow the money...

[WhiskeyGirl]

What happened to all the money paid out by Union Carbide for the accident in Bhopol, India in the 80's?

Why is that site still toxic?  Where did the money go?

The Settlement

During the 1980's, as Union Carbide continued to provide interim relief funds and work with the Bhopal community on medical and economic aid, legal actions proceeded in both the U.S. and India. The courts ultimately decided that India was the proper country for legal proceedings.  Matters were consolidated there and proceeded before the Supreme Court of India.

In February 1989, the Supreme Court of India directed a final settlement of all Bhopal litigation in the amount of $470 million. The Government of India, UCC and UCIL accepted the Court’s direction.

Ten days after the decision, UCC and UCIL made full payment of the $470 million to the Indian government.

The settlement award was much larger than any previous damage award in India, and was $120 million more than plaintiffs’ lawyers had told U.S. courts was fair. In directing the settlement, the Supreme Court of India reviewed all U.S. and Indian court filings, applicable law and relevant facts, and an assessment of the victims’ needs. In its opinion, the Court said that compensation levels under the settlement were far greater than would normally be payable under Indian law. By November 1990, the Reserve Bank of India reported that the settlement fund, with interest, was approximately twice what was estimated to be needed to compensate the victims.

In July 2004, fifteen years after reaching settlement, the Supreme Court of India ordered the Government of India to release all remaining settlement funds to the victims. News reports indicated that there was approximately $327 million in the fund as a result of earned interest from money remaining after all claims had been paid.

In April 2005, the Supreme Court of India granted a request from the Welfare Commission for Bhopal Gas Victims and extended to April 30, 2006, the distribution of the rest of the settlement funds by the Welfare Commission. News reports indicated that, at that time, approximately $390 million remained in the settlement fund as a result of earned interest.

An India media report in September 2006 stated that the "registrar in the office of Welfare Commissioner... said all cases of initial compensation claims by victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy have been cleared… With the clearance of initial compensation claims and revision petitions, no case is pending…"

What happened to the leftover money?

http://www.bhopal.com/irs.htm

A quarter of a century on, the derelict factory stands abandoned, but behind its locked iron gates lies what environmentalists say is "a disaster within a disaster" -- a highly polluted site which, according to a new study, is slowly poisoning the drinking water for thousands of Indians.

Bhopal has long cast a shadow over India and how it handles the challenges of a 1.1 billion, largely poor population, improve health and safety regulations, and a fast-growing economy.

"Our findings suggest that the entire site is highly contaminated," said Sunita Narain, director of the Delhi-based think-tank, the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), which in October tested the toxicity levels of ground water and soil samples in and outside the plant.

"The factory site in Bhopal is leading to chronic toxicity, which is a continuous tiny exposure leading to poisoning of our bodies."

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5B20Q620091203