Bachelor Degree

Energy and Environmental Engineering

Second Year

Module Name
Environmental Technology
Bhopal Accident CA1

Lecturer
Martha Burton

X00115459
Clarissa Soares Mariano

Student Name: Clarissa Soares Mariano Student Number: X00115459
The Bophal Disaster
The Bophal disaster was a gas leak accident occurred at the Union Carbide India Limited
(UCIL), a pesticide factory situated in the city of Bophal, India. UCIL was the Indian
subsidiary of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), with Indian Government controlled banks
and the Indian public holding a 49.1 percent stake. It happened on the night of 2-3 December
1984 and the plant was manufacturing methyl isocyanate (MIC). The plant of UCIL opened
in 1969 and initially produced the pesticide carbaryl, but ten years later it began
manufacturing MIC that is a substance used in the making of pesticides cheaper and more
toxic than the pesticide carbaryl.
Earlier leaks happened in the factory but this was the largest one. For example, in 1981, a
worker was splashed with phosgene and after inhaling a large amount of the gas, he died 72
hours later. Another accident was in October 1982, that was a MIC leak and in attempting to
stop the leak, the supervisor suffered intensive chemical burns and two other workers were
severely exposed to the gases.
The disaster of 1984 was the largest one due the immensity of the consequences. The factors
that contributed to the MIC leak were: storage of MIC in large tanks filled beyond
recommended levels, poor maintenance of the safety systems that failed in order to stop the
leak, some safety systems had been switched off to save money (including the MIC tank
refrigeration system which could have mitigated the disaster severity), plant location close to
a densely populated area, non-existent catastrophe plans, etc. Some work conditions were
identified as factors that could have helped the accident to happen as lack of skilled operators,
reduction of safety management and others.
The picture of how the accident happened was: in November of 1984, most of the safety
systems were not functioning and many valves and lines were in poor condition. Tank E610
contained 42 tons of MIC which was much more than what safety rules allowed. During the
night of the accident, water entered in this tank and a runaway reaction started, which was
accelerated by contaminants, high temperatures and others factors. A large volume of gases
was released and MIC escaped from the tank into the atmosphere in 45 to 60 minutes. A gas
cloud was formed and were blown in southeastern direction over Bhopal. The gas cloud
contained MIC and others substances. Studies claimed that it had also phosgene, hydrogen
cyanide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, oxides of nitrogen, monomethyl
amine (MMA) and carbon dioxide, either produced in the storage tank or in the atmosphere.
Theories differ as to how the water entered the tank and it is still unknown this fact. The
factory was closed in 1986.
The environmental damages were soil contamination, polluted groundwater in the area.
Reported polluting compounds include 1-naphthol, naphthalene, Sevin, tarry
residue, mercury, toxic organochlorines, volatile organochlorine compounds, chromium,
copper, nickel, lead, hexachloroethane, hexachlorobutadiene, and the pesticide HCH. The
total of deaths related to gas release were 3,787. Estimates say that some 50,000 people were
treated in the first few days suffering terrible side-effects, including blindness, kidney and
liver failure. Campaigners say nearly 20,000 others have since died from the effects of the
leak. Remediation actions were taken and the responsible paid a compensation to the victims
after a long process. In order to provide safe drinking water to the population around the
UCIL factory, the government presented a scheme for improvement of water supply. The
chemical plants waste from UCIL were disposed in Germany.
Student Name: Clarissa Soares Mariano Student Number: X00115459
Mind Map