I am posting this in a separate thread because it has nothing to do with the horrible things that happened in Mumbai.
BhopalExcerpts from the Wikipedia article. There are many others, but this is the most accessible to a non-technical readership.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster“The Union Carbide India, Limited (UCIL) plant was established in 1969 near Bhopal. 51% was owned by Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) and 49% by Indian authorities.
During the night of December 3rd 1984, large amounts of water entered tank 610, containing 42 tonnes of methyl isocyanate. The resulting reaction generated a major increase in the temperature inside the tank to over 200°C (400°F). The MIC holding tank then gave off a large volume of toxic gases, forcing the emergency release of pressure. The reaction was sped up by the presence of iron from corroding non-stainless steel pipelines. A mixture of poisonous gases flooded the city of Bhopal. Massive panic resulted as people woke up in a cloud of gas that burned their lungs. Thousands died from the gases and many were trampled in the panic.
The 1985 reports[10][11][12] give a quite clear picture of what led to the disaster and how it developed, although they differ in details.
Factors leading to this mega-gas leak include:
· The use of hazardous chemicals (MIC) instead of less dangerous ones
· Storing these chemicals in large tanks instead of several smaller ones
· Possible corroding material in pipelines
· Poor maintenance after the plant ceased production in the early 1980's
· Failure of several safety systems (due to poor maintenance and regulations)
Plant design and economic pressures to reduce expenses contributed most to the actual leak. The problem was then made worse by the plant's location near a densely populated area, non-existant catastrophe plans, shortcomings in health care and socio-economic rehabilitation, etc. Analysis shows that the parties responsible for the magnitude of the disaster are the two owners, Union Carbide Corporation and the Government of India, and to some extent, the Government of Madhya Pradesh.[1][2][13].
Public information
Much speculation arose in the aftermath. That the Indian government closed the plant to outsiders (including UCC) and that data were not made public contributed to the confusion. The CSIR report[12] was formally released 15 years after the disaster. The authors of the ICMR studies[14] on health effects were forbidden to publish their data until after 1994. UCC has still not released their research about the disaster.”
UCC and the Government of India maintained until 1994, when the International Medical Commission on Bhopal met, that MIC had no long term health effects.[1][“
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The whole article makes very unedifying reading.
Whatever the true facts, the adversarial attitude of the owners of the facility, U.C. and the Government ofIndia, and the fact that the Government prevented free access to the site, we will probably never know the true rights and wrongs. From the evidence it looks as if both U.C. and the G of I were acting to limit their own losses, with little thought of those who suffered.
Texas City RefineryAgain, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_Refinery_(BP)
“BP's Texas City Refinery in Texas City, Texas is the second-largest oil refinery in the state and the third-largest in the United States. It has an input capacity of 437,000 barrels per day (18,354,000 gallons or 69,477,448 litres) as of January 1, 2005. A major explosion occurred in an isomerization unit at the site on March 23, 2005, killing 15 workers and injuring more than 170 others.
According to a report issued after the accident, actions taken or not taken led to overfilling the raffinate splitter with liquid, overheating of the liquid and the subsequent overpressurisation and pressure relief. Hydrocarbon flow to the blowdown drum and stack overwhelmed it, resulting in liquids carrying over out of the top of the stack, flowing down the stack, accumulating on the ground, causing a vapor cloud, which was ignited by an abandoned white pickup truck with the ignition on. The report identified numerous failings in equipment, risk management, staff management, working culture at the site, maintenance and inspection and general health and safety assessments.”
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Here, an immediate and thorough investegation, carried out by company, U.S. Government agencies and independent individuals was carried out.
The full reports are available on a BP website:
http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=9005029&contentId=7015905A more accessable account, in the form of a video, is available on the C.S.B website:
http://events.powerstream.net/002/00174/player/start.asp?mediaformat=&bitrates=&bitratetxt=&mediahost=&w=&h=&clip=&contID=BPTexasCity&bypass=It should be required viewing for anyone studying Chemical Engineering or working in the chemical industry.
The difference in the treatment of the two disasters is striking.
