U.S. court rules in favour of Union Carbide
A New York court struck what appeared to be a deathblow to the case brought by victims of the 1984 poison gas disaster in Bhopal…when it ruled in favour of the defendant, the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), finding that the company could not be sued for ongoing contamination from the chemical plant…EarthRights International said that they had presented the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York with evidence that a UCC employee, Lucas John Couvaras, managed the construction of the plant. Despite this District Judge John Keenan ruled, “The manufacturing processes and waste disposal systems to be implemented at the Bhopal Plant were all initially proposed by UCIL (Union Carbide India Limited)…[and thus] defendant UCC's motion for summary judgment is granted [and] plaintiffs' motions relating to the deposition of Couvaras are denied.”…The plaintiffs intend to appeal Wednesday’s decision…