In Bhopal a chemical plant operated by Union Carbide of India Limited, a subsidiary of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), used the highly toxic chemicals carbon monoxide, chlorine, phosgene (mustard gas), monomethylamine, and methylisocyanate to produce the carbamate pesticides Carbaryl (Sevin) and Aldicarb (Temik). Due to an accidental expulsion of toxic gases into the atmosphere, more than 200,000 local people were exposed to the chemicals. More than 20,000 were permanently injured, and as many as 10,000 may have died as a direct result of the tragedy. Despite public commitments to health, safety, and environmental protection, this chapter argues that UCC created, or allowed to develop, the conditions whereby an accident was possible; had not taken the steps necessary to mitigate the effects of any accident; influenced public opinion and the legal process through a series of arguments and spurious claims; and secured a favorable settlement, one in which responsibility for the disaster was not, and will never be, determined legally. 79 notes