UNION CARBIDE's favoured cheapest - led them to build a plant designed to incorporate large-scale storage of Methyl Isowhich caused the catastrophe 610 led to the disaster. We still don't know what started it.
• The initial rise in pressure from 2 p.s.i. to 10 p.s.i., noticed at 11pm by the new shift, was not seen as a cause was sent for because 'the instruments often didn't work. They got corrod• Because of cuts in manning levels, it was left to one worker to check the 70 panels in the control room every two hours, instead of two workers ed the MIC at 0°C, and which could Swel had not been working for down caustic soda gas scrubber system, designed to neutralise escaping gas, was undergoing maintenance • The flare tower that was supposed to burn off escaping gas was not and pipework to it had been disconrouted to a vent line that emptied into Water-spray systems designed to surcurtain in the event of a gas leak were only designed to spray to a height of • There were no gas sensors capable of detecting the leaking MIC. Not was there a high-pressure warning carbon-steel valves had been used instead of stainless steel.
possible causes of the runaway reac• Storage tank 619 was meant to be available as a spare reservoir in the event of emergency here indications of the leak mere significance not understood, until far late occurred appeared in 'The state of In New Delhi noticed that the temperature guage on tank 610 had reached 25°C, the top of moving to 40 p.s.i., the point at which the emergency relief valve opens. investigate and was horrified. As be stood on a concrete slab above the began to shake. "There was a tremenbehind him. The slab, made of 60 feet of concrete at least 6 inches thick, was furnace. He couldn't get within 6 fee sound and saw gas shoot out of a tall stack connected to the tank, and form a white cloud drifting over the plan!
the sleeping neighbourhood.
In the plant he found that the pressure indicator had gone above 55 p.s.l., the top of the scale, safety • valve had opened, Even had all safety systems fea tioned, the design was such that or 40 per cent of the escaping gas corl have been neutralised.
6 Socialist Action 6 December 1985 recognition Southern government. THE AGREEMENT quite clearly involves, for the first time, the legal partnion by the I see the accord as a clear move away from the unification of Ireland, a view which is reinforced by the fact Margaret