Monday, June 7, 2010

Twenty six years later...

A court in the Indian city of Bhopal has sentenced eight people to two years each in jail over a gas plant leak that killed thousands of people in 1984.

This accident killed 3500 people and all they got was two years in jail and a $2125 fine! Nothing like getting away with murder. I'm sure if this were to have happened in an upscale neighborhood here they would have gotten 20 years and heavy fines. And I note that nobody from the U.S. was convicted.

In other news we have two more gas explosions. First in West Virginia 7 workers were injured when they were drilling for gas at an abandoned coal mine. Then early this afternoon 10 people were injured at a gas line that exploded in Texas. I'll be interested to see more news as to the causes of these events. Generally accidents happen on Mondays or Fridays. I'll check around on this and report back.

More later.

Update: Looks like the Texas accident was another screw up in communications. The pipe localing office doesn't know if the contractor called before digging. The bad thing about this was that the locations are not done by address but by GPS location. I could understand that considering they were drilling a hole for a high voltage line in a somewhat remote location but I still like the old ways better as long as the surveys and drawings are right. It turned out that six people were slightly injured and one presumed dead as he's still missing. He was the auger operator.

12 comments:

BBC said...

We get too much news, didn't know about a lot of it before but now it all seems overwhelming.

That's why it's nice to go camping and get none, can't do anything about any of it anyway.

Things are still sweet here, that's what counts most.

Steven said...

I may be wrong, but I seem to remember that the Union Carbide officials...CEO and etc, are indicted and so they cannot travel to India or they would be arrested. Fat chance of that ever happening!
Apparently we don't have an extradition treaty with India?

Demeur said...

The only reason I brought this up is because we cover it in our Hazmat recertification classes.

Standing quip is: Who killed more Indians than Custer?

The Blog Fodder said...

Actually it was closer to 35,000 people killed, I think.

Of course, no one from USA was tried or convicted. Americans can do what they want to the world and then run home and hide.

The Brits had the same rules in the days of the British Empire.

Ranch Chimp said...

I was reading somewhere's in mainstream media about this deal in Bhopal, basically people pissed about it locally there. When I see place's like that .... and how the people are treated .... make's me damn glad I live here ... even in Texas! :)

All this crap in Texas you posted ... I didnt even know a damn thing about .... imagine that! Thanx. But nothing concerning these kind's of accident's and issue's suprise me in this state believe me .... I been here most of my life and know how thing's work, I also lived in LA .... and know well that what folk's get away with here, wouldnt be able to get away with in California, I'll shut up though on that. Sometime's folk's on the west coast or even east coast dont understand me when I speak of concern's about Texas, and the scam's that go on here, thinking that I am some conspiracy theorist or paranoid .... I love this state, because I live decent ehre .... but I also know the reality here is a tad different than many of those in them other area's are aware of. Why do you think that Texas is so great for business and California is considered by many as somewhat anti- business? There's a reason, and this state is loose as a goose when it come's to regulation's and oversight's. Man oh Man ... some of the stories I could tell (non fiction).

Later Guy .........

Tom Harper said...

Two years in jail for all the death and destruction they caused with their negligence -- talk about a slap on the wrist.

Hope their fellow inmates make those 2 years miserable for them.

jmsjoin said...

What bothered me about that is 10000 to date have died as a result of that accident and those convicted were Indian not Union Carbide people. They went home!

Tim said...

Demeur
Check out another oil rig possible two leaking in the Gulf..

I wonder what it will be in 26 years here...Instead of the Gulf coast it will be the Ghost coast

BBC said...

I had a good camping trip. Things are still great here and much of the rest of the world doesn't give a crap about the gulf either. They wanted the oil and the jobs, well, now they have free oil, all they have to do is scoop it up. And jobs cleaning up the mess, which we will be stuck with paying for.

MY CAMPING BLOG

S.W. Anderson said...

Thus, the saying "justice delayed is justice denied."

The high-powered legal eagles who represent the biggest corporations know the best way to reduce the liability pool is to stall things until a whole lot of people in it have: A, run out of money for legal fees; B, grown too old and frail to remember why they're due damages; and C, croaked.

BBC said...

Puyallup cop charged in road rage incident.

Hahahahaha

Randal Graves said...

If those Indians didn't wanna be gassed, they shouldn't have been born in Indiastan.