Posted By John Webster
As I recall (I didn't see last night's programme), that part of the plant had been shut down for several years leaving some tanks partly filled with redundant chemical (methyl iso-cyanate). As the plant had been loosing money, nothing was done to remove the chemicals from site, and the systems surrounding the tanks fell into disrepair. These included a refrigeration system which had been cannibalised, and a connection to a flare stack that had been removed.

Some pipework elsewhere was being flushed with water. This found its way into one of the tanks through valves which had become leaky through corrosion and lack of maintenance. The water caused a runaway, exothermic reaction.

It does beg the question, what good would any corporate manslaughter laws be in this country against a large overseas corporation when they can just shut down and move operations elsewhere? The Indian Authorities have never managed to extradite those responsible for Bhopal from the USA to face manslaughter charges. Would we fare any better?