“Union Carbide, Dow and the Bhopal Incident”

In December of 1984, an accidental gas leak at the Union Carbide facility in Bhopal India caused a large number of deaths and an even larger number of injuries. (Reports on the exact number of deaths range from 3,800 to 8,000 people.) This accident not only affected the people and the physical environment at the time of the incident, but it is still having a negative effect on the area today. This past event now involves the Dow family of companies due to their merger with Union Carbide in February of 2001. When this merger took place, it caused Dow Chemicals to inherit not only Union Carbides assets, but its liabilities as well.

From a corporate point of view this accident should be considered a liability, and could be considered a public relations nightmare. Although all legal actions and obligations have been fulfilled, the fact that this incident has ongoing negative impact places Dow Chemical in an unenviable position. Currently, assessments of the feasibility of an are...