On Dec. 2, 1984, in a Union Carbide chemical plant in Bhopal, India, 250 gallons of water were accidentally added to a tank containing 10,000 gallons of methyl isocyanate (MIC, a highly toxic chemical used in the manufacture of pesticides).
The resulting exothermic reaction caused some of the MIC to vaporize, leak out of the tank, and form a toxic cloud of gas over the surrounding slums. As a result, approximately 20,000 people died (estimates vary) and 200,000 were injured, many of them permanently. Investigation revealed that the company had failed to meet its responsibilities in the following ways:
• To cut costs, the company had curtailed repairs on several safety systems, any one of which might have prevented or reduced the disaster, but which were all nonfunctional at the time of the accident. Their decision was made in spite of previous similar runaway reactions in one of their other plants.
• The company had failed to provide adequate training to employees in maintenance and safety procedures.
• The company had failed to create a plan to notify and/or evacuate the community in the event of an accident.
How many specific violations of the AIChE Code of Ethics can you identify in this story?