Court dismisses suit alleging massive water pollution from Union Carbide's infamous plant in Bhopal, India

A federal court in New York has dismissed claims by residents of Bhopal, India that Union Carbide caused massive water pollution of the local water supply.

The suit, Bano v. Union Carbide, Co. [link] is being brought by persons who live near the site of what used to be a Union Carbide pesticide factory. The factory is the same one that caused the 1984 gas leak that killed thousands of Bhopal residents. The pollution at issue in this case, however, stems not from the Bhopal Disaster, but instead from the huge amounts of toxic chemicals Carbide left on the site. Plaintiffs seek redress and remediation from Carbide under New York law.

In dismissing the case, the Court did not address the question of whether Carbide caused the pollution. Instead, the Court dismissed because, in its view, the named plaintiff was injured too long ago to present a claim and because the organizations that filed suit were not proper representatives of the victims.

EarthRights International serves as co-counsel for the plaintiffs in this suit. We believe that the Court clearly erred in its legal analysis and therefore should not have dismissed the case. An appeal is likely.

Read the decision