Spring 10 | Fall 09 | Spring 09 | Fall 08 | Spring 08 | Fall 07 | Spring 07 | Fall 06 | Spring 06 | Fall 05 | Spring 05 | Fall 04 Title A Bill Calling for the Accountability of Dow Chemicals Number 198 Week Bill Entered Committee December 1, 2004 Author Allistar Iles, Kamal Kapadia, and Senator L. Sridaran Sponsor Senator B. Kastenbaum, Senator N. Limon, Senator D. Perez, Senator D. Takruri, Senator A. Terre Semester Fall 04 Committee University and External Affairs Status in Committee Passed Status in Senate Passed Original Text WHEREAS, the leakage of 40 tons of lethal methyl isocyanate gas from a Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, India, on the night of December 2, 1984, which led to the death of an estimated 8,000 people in the first three days and more than 20,000 to date, was made possible due to the failure of six safety systems at the Union Carbide plant, each of which was inoperative because of Union Carbide decisions or neglect; and WHEREAS, in 1991, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation charged the Union Carbide Corporation and its officials, including then-CEO Warren Anderson, with culpable homicide and other offenses; and WHEREAS, Union Carbide Corporation and Warren Anderson are currently offenders in the eyes of the Indian Government after the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court in Bhopal proclaimed the company and Warren Anderson an absconder from justice for their failure to honor the process of Indian law; and WHEREAS, 20,000 people in the vicinity of the Union Carbide factory continue to be exposed to toxic chemicals through soil and groundwater contamination which has not been remedied; and WHEREAS, the Dow Chemical Company, after purchasing Union Carbide in 2001, thereby acquiring its assets and liabilities, has refused to assume the civil and criminal liabilities of Union Carbide related to the disaster in Bhopal; and WHEREAS, the University has significant ties to Dow Chemical (and formerly Union Carbide), which have included at least $4 million in donations from Dow to the University between 1980 and 2003, principally to the School of Chemistry where Dow is an “industrial friend”; and WHEREAS, the University accepts money from Dow that the corporation might otherwise have spent to provide safe drinking water and a healthy environment for the survivors of the Bhopal disaster; and THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the ASUC writes on behalf of the students of the University of California at Berkeley to Dow Chemical to state that the students recognize that this is the 20th anniversary of the disaster, that the company has not met its obligations to the survivors in all this time, and that the students support the campaign of the survivors for justice, and to demand that the company clean up the Bhopal, India factory and provide safe drinking water; and BE FURTHER IT RESOLVED, that the ASUC calls upon the Chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley to write a public letter to Dow Chemical, asking that it accept liability for the disaster, clean up the Bhopal, India factory and provide safe drinking water; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the ASUC requests the University to review its investment portfolio to identify if it, or UC, owns Dow stock; and to make the findings public; and to sell the stock if any; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the ASUC calls upon the Chancellor, the University, and the Deans of Schools and Colleges who receive funding from Dow Chemical, urging the University to reject all donations from Dow 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. Committee Text Final Text WHEREAS, the leakage of 40 tons of lethal methyl isocyanate gas from a Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, India, on the night of December 2, 1984, which led to the death of an estimated 8,000 people in the first three days and more than 20,000 to date, was made possible due to the failure of six safety systems at the Union Carbide plant, each of which was inoperative because of Union Carbide decisions or neglect; and WHEREAS, in 1991, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation charged the Union Carbide Corporation and its officials, including then-CEO Warren Anderson, with culpable homicide and other offenses; and WHEREAS, Union Carbide Corporation and Warren Anderson are currently offenders in the eyes of the Indian Government after the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court in Bhopal proclaimed the company and Warren Anderson an absconder from justice for their failure to honor the process of Indian law; and WHEREAS, 20,000 people in the vicinity of the Union Carbide factory continue to be exposed to toxic chemicals through soil and groundwater contamination which has not been remedied; and WHEREAS, the Dow Chemical Company, after purchasing Union Carbide in 2001, thereby acquiring its assets and liabilities, has refused to assume the civil and criminal liabilities of Union Carbide related to the disaster in Bhopal; and WHEREAS, the University has significant ties to Dow Chemical (and formerly Union Carbide), which have included at least $4 million in donations from Dow to the University between 1980 and 2003, principally to the School of Chemistry where Dow is an “industrial friend”; and WHEREAS, the University accepts money from Dow that the corporation might otherwise have spent to provide safe drinking water and a healthy environment for the survivors of the Bhopal disaster; and THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the ASUC writes on behalf of the students of the University of California at Berkeley to Dow Chemical to state that the students recognize that this is the 20th anniversary of the disaster, that the company has not met its obligations to the survivors in all this time, and that the students support the campaign of the survivors for justice, and to demand that the company clean up the Bhopal, India factory and provide safe drinking water; and BE FURTHER IT RESOLVED, that the ASUC calls upon the Chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley to write a public letter to Dow Chemical, asking that it accept liability for the disaster, clean up the Bhopal, India factory and provide safe drinking water; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the ASUC requests the University to review its investment portfolio to identify if it, or UC, owns Dow stock; and to make the findings public; and to sell the stock if any; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the ASUC calls upon the Chancellor, the University, and the Deans of Schools and Colleges who receive funding from Dow Chemical, urging the University to reject all donations from Dow 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.