The Legacy of the Bhopal Chemical Leak

Control Panel
Dow Chemical, the current owner of Union Carbide, refuses to accept any liability for the contamination at the site or the diminished health of the local population. In its official statement about Bhopal (available here), the company states that "it is important to note that Dow never owned or operated the plant, which today is under the control of the Madhya Pradesh state government. Dow acquired the shares of Union Carbide Corporation more than 16 years after the tragedy, and 10 years after the $470 million settlement agreement — paid by Union Carbide Corporation and Union Carbide India, Limited — was approved by the Indian Supreme Court."

• TIME's Bhopal cover story from December 1984