I realize the importance of seeing the glass half full, but sometimes I read things that just make me want to throw my hands in the air. I spent several weeks in Bhopal, India, the city where the 1984 Union Carbide disaster occurred, so a story featured on Yahoo News today caught my attention. It is relevant to volunteers and those interested in social change because first of all, there are many volunteers – in addition to staff – working to better conditions for survivors in Bhopal. It is also relevant because of its connection to themes such as globalization, corporate (ir)responsibility, human rights and the environment.

The UC factory is still standing, and there are chemicals literally sitting all over the place – today, twenty three years after the disaster. Union Carbide was bought by Dow (in a long and complicated chain of events) and not surprisingly Dow doesn’t want to take responsibility for the disaster or the clean up. It’s a complicated situation which has evolved over the years, but the gist of it is that much action remains to be taken.

You can get an official permit and visit the abandoned factory. Or you can slip in the broken fence, as people sometimes do. When there were still unused equipment, metal, containers etc. there, people from the surrounding impoverished areas – often survivors of the disaster - came in and took these things, either for personal use or to sell for a meager amount of money.

One of the problems of the chemicals is obviously that they are dangerous just sitting there, but they also seep into the ground when it rains and pollute the water supply. People – again, often impoverished people who don’t have enough clean water – use it when they have to, perhaps not for drinking but for washing or cooking. The situation is such that they really have no other option. Another problem is that dogs get onto the premises and found that rolling in the chemicals keeps away fleas. Obviously those dogs don’t stay on the premises. In short, these chemicals are a huge problem. Even aside from the presence of the chemicals though, there are major health problems caused by the disaster and continuing problems with poverty.

Find out more about the recent news story here.