ABSTRACT
This chapter utilizes the tragic gas disaster at Bhopal in December 1984 and its aftermath as a case study in corporate crime. At Bhopal, Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), at the time viewed by most as a safe and responsible company, created the conditions whereby an accident was not only likely, but also that its consequences would be of far greater magnitude than need have been. While much of the attention following Bhopal has been, quite justifiably, upon the victims of that disaster, the leak of methyl iso-cyanate (MIC) from the UCC plant had wider ramifications for both the company and the international chemical industry. In Bhopal, India, a chemical plant, operated by Union Carbide of India Limited, a subsidiary of UCC, used the highly toxic chemicals, carbon monoxide, chlorine, phosgene, monomethylamine and MIC to produce carbamate pesticides.
