Justice for Bhopal members have been busy targeting the Dow Chemical company directly over the past year. Just take a look at a few of our actions:

 

Confronting Dow's CEO (Click here for photos!)

On Tuesday December 3rd, 2002, in the highlight of that week’s events, Greenpeace activists and students from Justice for Bhopal and AID--all members of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal--confronted the CEO of the Dow Chemical Corporation, Michael Parker, outside his home in Midland, Michigan. The visit, organized by Justice for Bhopal to commemorate the anniversary of the Bhopal tragedy, interrupted a lavish Christmas party at the Parker home. Although the vigil candles, Bhopal banners, tombstones, Parker “Wanted Posters” and other props didn’t seem to distract the gleeful party goers, Michael Parker did step outside and spar with us for approximately twenty minutes. The entire event was videotaped and a local television station also filmed the action and broadcast it on the 11 p.m. news.

Mr. Parker emphasized to the group that he remembered the exact day on which the tragedy took place, and that he and others in the chemical industry were deeply sympathetic to the plight of the victims in Bhopal. However when we offered to buy him a plane ticket to go to India to meet with the survivors and those still suffering, he refused. When asked why, he replied, “there are a lot of things that I have to do.”

The activists made it clear to Mr. Parker that we hold him personally responsible for cleaning up Bhopal. Shivani Anil Patel, a student from AID, attempted to give Mr. Parker a list of demands (including that Dow clean up the site and properly compensate the victims), but he refused to accept them. Mr. Parker continued to deny all responsibility for cleaning up Bhopal, and told the activists that he had no legal responsibility “whatsoever” to do so. When Mr. Parker was reminded that courts both in the United States and India were still considering the case, he assured everyone that they would not decide against his company.

Mr. Parker made clear to the activists that he had “interfaced” with several of the victims from Bhopal and lamented the poverty that could be found throughout all of India. Jackie Downing, an activist from Greenpeace, interrupted Mr. Parker to point out that while Dow might not be responsible for all of the poverty in all of India, it was Dow’s responsibility to clean up its mess in Bhopal. “The polluter pays,” she told him. “That’s your opinion,” he fired back.

Neglecting his dinner guests, Mr. Parker warned the group at several points that there would be consequences for making the issue personal and coming to his home. He told us to “consider very carefully” whether such a strategy might, in fact, achieve the exact opposite of what we intended. Dow’s spokesman John Musser later told the University of Michigan’s student newspaper that the visit was “pushing the limits” and represented an attempt to intimidate Mr. Parker.

Before leaving the group, Mr. Parker told us how much he respected us for coming out on such a cold evening. He confirmed that we had “the best of intentions” and thanked us for our caring and concern. He then stepped inside and rejoined his Christmas party.

Our visit was covered that night on WNEM Channel 5, and also received coverage both in the Midland Daily News and in the Michigan Daily. The Midland story can be found at www.ourmidland.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6272288&BRD=2289&PAG=461&dept_id=472542&rfi=8

Our story in the Michigan Daily is located at: http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/12/06/3df04dbb5a005

 

Protesting at the Dow Shareholder's Meeting (click here for photos!)

On May 8th, 2003, fifteen Justice for Bhopal members converged on Midland for the annual Dow Shareholder’s Meeting. They joined members of the International Campaign for Bhopal (ICJB), including longtime Bhopal activist Sathyu Sarangi, and two survivors of the Bhopal disaster, Rashida Bi and Champa Devi. Rashida lost five gas-exposed members of her family to cancers, and was left permanently semi-blind by Union Carbide’s gases. Champa’s entire family, including her husband and five children, were exposed to the gases; her husband died afterwards of bladder cancer. On the day of the shareholder’s meeting, Rashida and Champa were on their eighth day of an indefinite hunger strike calling for Dow to take responsibility in Bhopal.

Three giant banners depicting the victims of Bhopal were raised outside of the conference center, while Justice for Bhopal members held signs and banners in silent protest. Rashida and Champa sat quietly beneath the banners, wrapped in black saris while photographers from several newspapers took photographs. Television news channels 5 and 12 were also there to record the protest for the evening news, and Ryan was interviewed on the WIOG radio station.

Thanks to the generosity of several Dow shareholders, Rashida, Champa, and other ICJB members were granted proxies to enter the Dow shareholder meeting. There, during the question and answer session, they demanded justice from Dow’s current CEO, William Stavropolous, and the Dow Board of Directors. Speaking through an interpreter, Rashida and Champa both described their anguish at losing members of their families to the gas, and the daily suffering they face from their own health impacts. Rashida and Champa both made clear that they had been fasting for eight days, and asked why Union Carbide continued to evade its summons to stand trial in India, where the corporation is charged with culpable homicide for the thousands of deaths in Bhopal. Mr. Stavropolous replied some a canned (and not very convincing) I-feel-your-pain remarks, before denying—in a demonstrable lie webcast around the world—that Union Carbide faces ANY criminal charges in India.

The CEO was no less callous when he met with the Bhopal survivors in a private session following the shareholder’s meeting. Sathyu Sarangi, who served as interpreter, described the meeting as “totally depressing. …He basically gestured so that we could start speaking, and Rashida Bi told her story and Champa Devi told her story (and) I interpreted, and not a word from him,” Sarangi said. “He had this wooden expression and at the end of it he spoke not one word, he got up and said: ‘You must go and talk to your government. We’re sorry, we can’t do anything.’”

After traveling halfway around the world Rashida and Champa, survivors of the world’s worst industrial disaster, enduring the eighth day of an indefinite hunger strike and bearing the scars of their own gas exposure, received no sympathy from Dow’s Chief Executive. This episode is only one more indication of how Dow’s corporate culture can condone the continued poisoning of the people of Bhopal, Plaquemine, Midland, Vietnam, and other places, and serves as only one more example of the need for a national campaign that demands justice from the Dow Chemical Corporation.

 

Confronting Dow's Director of Sustainable Development (click here for the press release!)

On February 7, 2003, Steve, Shivani, Ryan, Sayan, and Jason confronted Dow's Director of Sustainable Development, Scott Noesen, about the Bhopal tragedy at a luncheon in the Business School's Executive Residence. They presented him with a cake that read "Dow-Clean Up Bhopal!" and told him that Dow's behavior in Bhopal was anything but "sustainable." Mr. Noesen serves as the president of the Corporate Environmental Management Program (CEMP) Advisory Board at the University of Michigan; CEMP is a dual-degree program between the University's Business and Natural Resource Schools that is heavily funded by Dow contributions. The Justice for Bhopal members stressed to Mr. Noesen that it was his company's responsibility to clean up Dow's mess in Bhopal, and that they would continue to organize and advocate on behalf of the Bhopal victims until justice had been done. Mr. Noesen promised to pass the message on to Dow headquarters, but he pointedly refused to accept the cake that students presented, as doing so might be construed as an admission of liability!

 

Screwing With Recruiting

On November 14th, 2002, Justice for Bhopal learned that Dow would be coming to campus on the 15th to recruit students for its Pharmaceutical division. We moved quickly, and Ryan, Sayan, Rob and Jackie were ready for them the next day. We ambushed the Dow reps with questions about Bhopal and sent them packing in a huff, but not before they received a copy of the technical guidelines for a Bhopal clean up that Greenpeace had prepared.

 

Stealing Press Coverage

Justice for Bhopal traveled to Dow's international corporate HQ in Midland, Michigan, on November 22nd, 2002. Dow, as an equal opportunity polluter, has taken the time to contaminate the entire Tittabawassee River floodplain with dioxin. But instead of cleaning up the contamination, Dow attempted to strike a sweetheart deal with the state DEQ to RAISE the acceptable levels of dioxin, so the site won't be classified as a Superfund clean up site.

Local residents, angry about the contamination and frustrated with Dow’s backroom deals, had scheduled a community meeting to discuss the plan. Dow responded by scheduling a press conference that morning, before the hearing, in the hopes of dominating the news cycle. They trotted their scientists before the cameras to tell the good people of Midland how safe dioxin is and how raising the acceptable dioxin levels was really the best move for everyone.

However they didn't count on Jackie and Rob coming into town with haz mat suits and HUGE Michael Parker wanted posters to assist the angry residents. The leading story on the noon news: Dow’s science skeptics? Nope -- it’s Jackie, Rob and local activists with their 5 feet Michael Parker WANTED posters rallying in the snow!

Our coverage in the Midland Daily News can be found at: www.ourmidland.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6154371&BRD=2289&PAG=461&dept_id=472542&rfi=6 

And the story on WNEM can be found at: www.wnem.com/Global/story.asp?S=1021840

 

"Indecent Acts - Demanding Corporate Accountability"

On April 5th, 2003, the Association for India's Development, Environmental Action, Environmental Issues Commission, Environmental Justice, Justice for Bhopal, Ecology Center, Environmental Health Watch, Greenpeace, and Lone Tree Council all sponsored "Indecent Acts - Demanding Corporate Accountability: A Conference On Dow Chemical and Organizing Skills." Approximately 100 people attended to learn about Dow's dioxin contamination in Midland, its liability in Bhopal, and its global impact on the environment and human health. Training workshops were also held to help teach students the skills that they'll need to organize around Dow's contamination and liability issues; Corporate Research, Greenwashing, Corporate Control of Science and Education, and Radical Cheerleading sessions were only a few of those featured. The keynote address was delivered by Sheldon Rampton, the editor of PR Watch and author of, among other works, "Toxic Sludge is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies, and the Public Relations Industry." Other environmental luminaries that attended and presented included Gary Cohen and Joe DiGangi of the Environmental Health Fund, David Wood of the GrassRoots Recycling Network, Nity Jayaram and G Krishnaveni of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, Terry Miller of the Lone Tree Council, Casey Harrell of Greenpeace, Monica Rohde Buckhorn of the Center for Health and Environmental Justice, Phil Mattera of the Corporate Research Project, and Mary Beth Doyle and Tracey Easthope of the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor. The evening closed with a special reception at the Raghu Rai photo exhibit on North Campus (see Education).