US lawmakers ask Dow to clean up Bhopal

WASHINGTON: As many as 27 US lawmakers have asked Dow Chemical Company, which now owns Union Carbide, to immediately take steps towards providing medical and economic rehabilitation to victims of Bhopal gas tragedy.

"We request that Dow ensures that a representative appear in the ongoing legal cases in India regarding Bhopal, that Dow meets the demands of the survivors for medical and economic rehabilitation, and cleans up the soil and groundwater contamination in and around the factory site," the lawmakers said in a letter to Andrew Liveris, the Dow Chairman and CEO.

The letter endorsed the survivors' demands for remediation, as put forth by the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB), chiefly that Dow provide medical and economic rehabilitation and clean up the factory and groundwater contamination.

Congressman Frank Pallone led the effort to support the ICJB demands. A coalition of Bhopal survivors and their supporters worldwide, ICJB is working to force Dow to face trial in India and to pay for the disaster cleanup. Nearly a quarter-century after the initial disaster, the factory sits in ruins, with toxic chemicals strewn about the grounds, just yards from the homes of thousands of Bhopali families, ICJB said in a statement.