Anthropogenic environmental disasters
1. Bhopal: the Union Carbide gas leak2. Chernobyl: Russian nuclear power plant explosion
3. Seveso: Italian dioxin crisis
4. The 1952 London smog disaster
5. Major oil spills of the 20th and 21st century
6. The Love Canal chemical waste dump
7. The Baia Mare cyanide spill
8. The European BSE crisis
9. Spanish waste water spill
10. The Three Mile Island near nuclear disaster
1. Bhopal: the Union Carbide gas leak
December
3, 1984 has become a memorable day for the city of Bhopal in Madya
Pradesh county, India. Shortly after midnight, a poisonous gas cloud
escaped from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide factory.
The cloud contained 15 metric tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC), covering
an area of more than 30 square miles. The gas leak killed at least 4.000
local residents instantly and caused health problems such as oedema for
at least 50.000 to perhaps 500.000 people. These health problems killed
around 15.000 more victims in the years that followed. Approximately
100.000 people still suffer from chronic disease consequential to gas
exposure, today. Research conducted by the BBC in 2004 pointed out that
this pollution still causes people to fall ill, and ten more die every
year. This event is now known as the worst industrial environmental
disaster to ever have occurred.
(Note that
the numbers of victims are not absolute, as they are different for every
organization that describes the accident in books or on their websites.
Particularly the Union Carbide company states a much lower total number
of victims.)
The cause of the accident has been researched after the disaster. Apparently water ended up in MIC storage tanks, causing an exothermal reaction that released an amount of poisonous gas large enough to open the safety valves. Normally scrubbers would intercept escaping gas, but these were temporarily out of order for repair.
Research showed that factory personnel neglected a number of safety procedures. There were no valves to prevent water from entering the storage tanks. The cooling installation of the tanks and the flaring installation that might have flared the gas that was released were out of order (fig. 1).
Safety was very low in this factory of Union Carbide, compared to its other locations. The safety procedures were neglected because of budget cuts.
The cause of the accident has been researched after the disaster. Apparently water ended up in MIC storage tanks, causing an exothermal reaction that released an amount of poisonous gas large enough to open the safety valves. Normally scrubbers would intercept escaping gas, but these were temporarily out of order for repair.
Research showed that factory personnel neglected a number of safety procedures. There were no valves to prevent water from entering the storage tanks. The cooling installation of the tanks and the flaring installation that might have flared the gas that was released were out of order (fig. 1).
Safety was very low in this factory of Union Carbide, compared to its other locations. The safety procedures were neglected because of budget cuts.
Figure 1: overview of events that led to the Bhopal disaster (Bhopal Medical Appeal, 2002)
Union
Carbide was accused of deliberate evasion of regular safety procedures.
During lawsuits where victims demanded compensation, documents were
revealed which proved that Union Carbide regularly used untested
technology in the Bhopal factory. When the gas leak occurred doctors
were not informed of the nature of the gas. This caused the correct
treatment and emergency measures to be held off.
The manager of Union Carbide, Warren Anderson, was accused of culpable homicide. However, he did not occur in court and both the Indian and American government did not take adequate measures to make sure this man was tried. This led to a series of protests organized by environmental organizations, such as Greenpeace.
Union Carbide denied responsibility for the accident on their website, stating that: “The Bhopal plant was owned and operated by Union Carbide India, Limited (UCIL), an Indian company in which Union Carbide Corporation held just over half the stock. The other stockholders included Indian financial institutions and thousands of private investors in India. The plant was designed, built, and managed by UCIL using Indian consultants and workers.”
About the cause of the accident, they claimed that: “A thorough investigation was conducted by the engineering consulting firm Arthur D. Little. Its conclusion: the gas leak could only have been caused by deliberate sabotage. Someone purposely put water in the gas storage tank, causing a massive chemical reaction. Process safety systems had been put in place that would have kept the water from entering into the tank by accident.”
After
a long procedure in February 1989 eventually a settlement was achieved.
Union Carbide promised to pay 470 million dollars compensation. Only a
very small part of this compensation was paid to survivors of the
environmental disaster. Union Carbide states on its website that it paid
the full settlement to the Indian government within 10 days time. In
2004 the Supreme Court forced the Indian government to pay the remaining
330 million dollars compensation to the victims and their families.
Union Carbide sold the Indian factory to a battery producer. In 2001 Dow Chemical Company took control of Union Carbide. These take-overs led to a discussion on responsibility for cleaning up the tons of poisonous waste that are still present in the environment consequential to the 1984 disaster. Environmental activists are trying to convince Dow Chemical Company to clean up this potential minefield of toxic chemicals. These could cause nervous system failure, liver and kidney disease and possibly cancer for many years to come.
Today, the location is still polluted with thousands of tons of toxic chemicals, such as hexachlorobenzene and mercury. These chemicals are stored in open barrels. Rainfall causes rinsing out of pollution to local drinking water sources. According to BBC research, some wells even contain up to 500 times the legal limit of these toxins. Local residents still suffer from a number of diseases, which appear to be very uncommon among people that do not live in the disaster area.
The manager of Union Carbide, Warren Anderson, was accused of culpable homicide. However, he did not occur in court and both the Indian and American government did not take adequate measures to make sure this man was tried. This led to a series of protests organized by environmental organizations, such as Greenpeace.
Union Carbide denied responsibility for the accident on their website, stating that: “The Bhopal plant was owned and operated by Union Carbide India, Limited (UCIL), an Indian company in which Union Carbide Corporation held just over half the stock. The other stockholders included Indian financial institutions and thousands of private investors in India. The plant was designed, built, and managed by UCIL using Indian consultants and workers.”
About the cause of the accident, they claimed that: “A thorough investigation was conducted by the engineering consulting firm Arthur D. Little. Its conclusion: the gas leak could only have been caused by deliberate sabotage. Someone purposely put water in the gas storage tank, causing a massive chemical reaction. Process safety systems had been put in place that would have kept the water from entering into the tank by accident.”
After
a long procedure in February 1989 eventually a settlement was achieved.
Union Carbide promised to pay 470 million dollars compensation. Only a
very small part of this compensation was paid to survivors of the
environmental disaster. Union Carbide states on its website that it paid
the full settlement to the Indian government within 10 days time. In
2004 the Supreme Court forced the Indian government to pay the remaining
330 million dollars compensation to the victims and their families.Union Carbide sold the Indian factory to a battery producer. In 2001 Dow Chemical Company took control of Union Carbide. These take-overs led to a discussion on responsibility for cleaning up the tons of poisonous waste that are still present in the environment consequential to the 1984 disaster. Environmental activists are trying to convince Dow Chemical Company to clean up this potential minefield of toxic chemicals. These could cause nervous system failure, liver and kidney disease and possibly cancer for many years to come.
Today, the location is still polluted with thousands of tons of toxic chemicals, such as hexachlorobenzene and mercury. These chemicals are stored in open barrels. Rainfall causes rinsing out of pollution to local drinking water sources. According to BBC research, some wells even contain up to 500 times the legal limit of these toxins. Local residents still suffer from a number of diseases, which appear to be very uncommon among people that do not live in the disaster area.
Estimates
have shown that dust storms blow about 11,8 millions metric tons of
desert sand from Africa to the Northeast Amazon Basin in Brazil
annually. Dust storms occur everywhere around the world. Their natural
function is replacement of soils and carrying nutrients from one part of
the globe to another. 
China
It
was said the cause of the dust storm was a gusty southerly wind change
moving over Queensland. Like in Beijing, people with asthma, children
and elderly people were advised to stay inside to prevent breathing
problems. Cars were obligated to drive with dipped headlights on.
Aviation forecasters stated that many airports were closed.
At
approximately 4:00 a.m. on March 28, 1979 the main feed water pumps in
the non-nuclear cooling system of reactor 2 of the Three Mile Island
nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania failed. This caused
cooling water to drain away from the reactor resulting in partial
melting of the reactor core. Operator errors, a stuck valve, faulty
sensors and design errors together resulted in a release of
approximately one thousandth as much radiation as during the Chernobyl
explosion.
Radiation
from the Three Mile Island reactor has contributed to the premature
deaths of some elderly people that lived in the region. Dairy farmers
reported that many animals have died consequential to the accident and
local residents have developed cancers. Some studies suggested that
premature deaths and birth defects also resulted from the nuclear
melt-down.
The
accumulation of prions (proteinaceous infectious particles) over many
generations caused animals to fall ill, increasing the infectious tissue
concentration in newly produced meat. In Europe it was first discovered
in British cattle in 1986. Contrarily to other European countries, in
Britain it was not required for the animal feed to undergo a steam
boiling process for sterilization. This gave the infectious agents a
chance to spread. In 1996 the British mistake came to light and European
countries banned the import of British cow meat, causing the British
meat industry to suffer major losses.
It
is assumed that humans are affected with the BSE-related disease by
consuming the organs and tissues from cattle in which the BSE-causing
agents are present. Infection can only occur when consumption cows with
BSE are 30 months old or older. Estimates state that 400.000 cattle
infected with BSE entered the human food chain in the 1980s. The age of
these cows prior to slaughter is unknown.
Environmental
organizations claim that large companies take advantage of the flexible
environmental regulation in poorer countries such as Rumania. It is
stated this results in the occurrence of environmental disasters such as
that in Baia Mare. The major owner of the Baia Mare gold mine is an
Australian called Brett. He commented the media coverage of the Baia
Mare disaster, saying reports were utterly exaggerated. He denies the
high rate of fish mortality in the area had anything to do with the gold
mine.
Lois
Gibbs, an activist, noticed the high occurrence of illness and birth
defects in the area and started documenting it. In 1978 newspapers
revealed the existence of the chemical waste dump in the Love Canal area
and Lois Gibbs started petitioning for closing the school. In August
1978, the claim succeeded and the NYS Health Department ordered closing
of the school when a child suffered from chemical poisoning.
In 1978
on March 16 the Liberian super tanker Amoco Cadiz stranded on Portsall
Rocks off the coast of Brittany, France because of failure of the
steering mechanism at 9:15. Although Captain Pasquale Bandari hoisted
the international signal for "Not Under Command" almost immediately, he
did not request assistance until 11:20, when his engineer determined
that the damage was irreparable. The Amoco Cadiz started drifting to
shore where touching the bottom ripped open the hull and storage tanks.
On July 6, 1988
an explosion occurred on the oil and gas production platform Piper
Alpha of Occidental Petroleum Ltd. and Texaco in the North Sea. Piper
Alpha was located on the Piper Oilfield, about 190 kilometres from
Aberdeen in 144 metres of water. There were about 240 people working on
the platform. The explosion and resulting fire killed 167 of them. It is
now said that evacuation plans were inadequate and therefore failed
preventing any of the deaths. By the time rescue helicopters arrived,
flames over 100 metres in height prevented safe approach. Only 62
workers were pulled from the sea alive.
In 1989
the American oil tanker Exxon Valdez clashed with the Bligh Reef,
causing a major oil leakage. The tanker had left the Valdez terminal in
Alaska, navigating through Prince William Sound. Captain Joseph
Hazelwood informed the coast guard they would change course to avoid
collision with some small icebergs present in the region. The coast
guard instructed the captain to sail north.
In
August 1990 Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait, starting the Gulf War in which
an allegiance of 34 nations worldwide was involved. In January 1991
of the Gulf War, Iraqi forces committed two environmental disasters.
The first was a major oil spill 16 kilometres off the shore of Kuwait by
dumping oil from several tankers and opening the valves of an offshore
terminal. The second was the setting fire to 650 oil wells in Kuwait.
The
oil spills did considerable damage to life in the Persian Gulf (see
picture). Several months after the spill, the poisoned waters killed
20.000 seabirds and had caused severe damage to local marine flora and
fauna. The fires in the oil wells caused immense amounts of soot and
toxic fumes to enter the atmosphere. This had great effects on the
health of the local population and biota for several years. The
pollution also had a possible impact on local weather patterns.
In the early hours of December 14, 2002
the Norwegian ship Tricolor collided with the Bahama container ship
Kariba in the French Channel. The accident was caused by fog and human
errors. The Kariba was heavily damaged, but managed to reach the Antwerp
harbour. The crew of Tricolor was rescued by emergency teams, which
experienced low visibility that made the rescue operation very hard.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt.