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Printed from Michigan IMC |
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News: Global Justice |
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Justice for Bhopal victory at U-Mich |
Current rating: 012 Apr 2003 Modified: 04/12 17:32 EST |
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MICHIGAN STUDENT ASSEMBLY CALLS ON THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN TO REFUSE DONATIONS FROM DOW DUE TO BHOPAL CONTAMINATION |
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Press Release MICHIGAN STUDENT ASSEMBLY CALLS ON THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN TO REFUSE DONATIONS FROM DOW DUE TO BHOPAL CONTAMINATION Yesterday, the Michigan Student Assembly (MSA) approved a resolution that calls on the University of Michigan to "disassociate" from Dow and refuse all donations from the Michigan-based corporation. The resolution, sponsored by Justice for Bhopal and supported by more than 20 student organizations, cited the company’s refusal to clean up contamination in Bhopal, India, and its reluctance to properly clean up its dioxin pollution of the Tittabawassee River and floodplain. Dow is among the top 26 donors to the University of Michigan. On December 3rd, 1984, a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, began leaking 40 tons of methyl isocyanate, a deadly gas. None of the plant’s safety systems were operational, allowing the gas to spread throughout the city. Roughly half a million people were exposed to the gas and 20,000 have died to date as a result of their exposure. More than 120,000 people still suffer from such ailments as blindness, extreme difficulty in breathing, and gynecological disorders. The site has never been properly cleaned up and it continues to poison the people of Bhopal. In 2001, the Dow Chemical Corporation purchased Union Carbide, thereby acquiring its assets and liabilities. However Dow has refused to clean up the site, provide safe drinking water, compensate the victims, or disclose the composition of the gas leak, information that could potentially save many lives. In Michigan, Dow has polluted the Tittabawassee River and floodplain with exceedingly high levels of dioxin. Dioxin is an exceedingly toxic byproduct of chemical production processes, and has been linked to cancer, birth defects, endocrine disruption, and other health effects. Over the years, Dow has used the Tittabawassee River as a dumping ground for this dangerous chemical; periodic flooding has spread the dioxin contamination throughout the floodplain, where thousands of people reside. Soil testing conducted in 1998 revealed that dioxin concentrations at the Dow plant site were as high as 17,030 parts per trillion; a high of 7,261 ppt was found in Tittabawassee River sediments. The Michigan state cleanup standard is 90 ppt. More than 400 University of Michigan students signed a petition in support of the MSA resolution, which calls on the President and Regents of the University of Michigan to "write a public letter to Dow, asking that it clean up the contaminated site in Bhopal, India, and the Tittabawassee River floodplain contamination in Michigan, to United States Superfund standards and Michigan's 90 ppt dioxin cleanup standard, respectively." It also urges the University to "reject all donations from Dow Chemical or its directly associated foundations in excess of that which the corporation spends to clean up the Bhopal site on an annual basis, until such time as the site has been cleaned to United States Superfund standards." The resolution is the first-ever university resolution calling on Dow to clean up the Bhopal site. "This was an important victory for justice, corporate responsibility, and the thousands of victims of Dow’s dioxin pollution and the Bhopal disaster," said Ryan Bodanyi, co-facilitator of the Justice for Bhopal group. "The student body of the University of Michigan demands that Dow take responsibility for its own pollution, and clean up the contamination in Bhopal and the Tittabawassee River. Until Dow assumes their responsibility, we won’t accept donations that should instead be spent to clean up these sites and protect people’s health. Ten to fifteen people continue to die in Bhopal each month; we don’t want their blood on our hands." The Michigan Student Assembly is the central student government at the University of Michigan, representing students from every school and college. As the official student voice at the University, it represents the University’s 39,000 students. Justice for Bhopal is a student organization devoted to achieving an adequate and just resolution for the victims of the 1984 Union Carbide chemical gas leak in Bhopal, India. Justice for Bhopal is committed to organizing University of Michigan students around this issue, raising awareness about the tragedy, and pressuring Dow to assume its legal and moral responsibility. Justice for Bhopal is an official member of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal. ### |
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See also: http://www.umich.edu/~bhopal/ |
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