THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS, BUT IT MADE ME SO MAD I CANNOT HELP IT. (But I will notate when I start to ruin the book for you...)
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Union Carbide India Limited, an offshoot of the American company Union Carbide, built a chemical plant in Bhopal, India in 1969 to produce a pesticide for market. The pesticide that was produced was marketed under the brand name Sevin, and contained methyl isocyanate. (Other chemicals in the plant used in the creation of Sevin and MIC included phosgene, chlorine, cholorformate, etc.) The plant started off cutting corners and costs from the outset, which was a red flag parade on the way to the final disaster. Before this fatal disaster, other leaks occurred and poor safety was reported. At one point in the book, it talks about how they discovered the well they used for drinking had a nasty smell to it all of a sudden, and water their cows drank killed the cows. The company paid out money to those who lost their cows, and promised to take care of the issue. Nothing was ever told to the people about what the substances were or any dangers. (Go figure.) Not much seemed to improve, and by the time that the plant stopped producing, it was a rusty contraption. As far as it goes, the plant was a saving grace to a lot of people when it first opened. People were living in extreme poverty, partly due to crop failure from pests. This offered a source of decent paying income that was many times what families were used to living on. The problem is that many of them had no idea what they were doing, no idea what they were making, and really no business being in charge of things they didn't understand. (A common problem among a lot of businesses.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SPOILERS BELOW~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the demand for pesticides decreased, the plant reduced production and then began shutdown. There were three large tanks that held around 18,000 gallons of liquid MIC still sitting at the plant. Apparently, even though the liquid had to be kept at a cool temperature, they thought it was wise to turn off the refrigeration. The tanks sat there from October to December without the coolant being pumped around them. (So smart.) The tanks were supposed to be kept at half capacity to allow for the introduction of a stabilizing agent in case of emergency. The tanks were also pressurized with nitrogen gas. They were over that amount. (Again, smart.) Parts of the plant were down for maintenance, including the flare tower, which is a way for gasses to be burned off for safety. (Great timing.) A vent gas scrubber, used to remove gasses from exhaust systems, was not properly working at the time of the disaster and others were out of service completely due to flushing pipes. (Awesome.) The chemical reaction created a buildup of glass, blowing apart the sarcophagus the tanks were housed in and allowed a toxic cloud to escape. The gas headed right for a densely populated area where low income people were amassed. They knew in advance that is likely where any escaped gas would travel, yet did nothing about that and did not tell the people. (Imagine that.) THOUSANDS of people died and HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS were injured in some way by these gas clouds. They died CHOKING. What a horrific way to die. Autopsies revealed a combination of horrific traumas in addition to choking to death. I cannot imagine how terrifying those last few second were for these people, and how much the ones who didn't die suffered.

The hospitals were swamped, and most of the doctors were under educated to begin with and certainly had no experience treating gas victims. The ones who were fortunate enough to survive faced a lot of health problems: cancer, stillbirths, infant mortality, blindness, etc. Tuberculosis was a common issue, and the effects of the gas made that a lot worse. Children had mental defects and stunted growth. Trees began to lose leaves and die. Animals and scavenging animals began to die, and fishing was banned. The land the plant itself is on is contaminated. Dangerous chemicals were there and it was used as a dumping ground after the explosion. The groundwater and soil is polluted. This has been an ongoing issue for 30 years, and the people have been lied to and dismissed every step of the way. They cannot get justice in the court systems in India or in the United States. It is revolting and sorry as HECK.

This book was absolutely infuriating. It just goes to show how much businesses care about production and money. They do not care about the land they destroy and pollute, the livelihoods they wreck, or the people and animals they kill hand over fist. Union Carbide did not build that plant in Bhopal nearly as well as the plant it built in the United States, and even THAT ONE was trash and leaked and they lied to residents. (If they poop in their own yard, what makes anyone think they won't poop in someone else's that they really don't care about.) The building was essentially falling down around them, things were not maintained, things were not repaired correctly or timely. Valves were bad, pipes were rusty, gauges were faulty, and alarms were not working. Safety was not a priority, really, for a lot of the workers and certainly not by the company. (Especially when they took away the refrigeration and overfilled the holding tanks on a volatile chemical....)

And just so you know, the Union Carbide company is now a part of DOW Chemical Company. They also have a website that swears up and down that the facility was state of the art, the safety was top notch, and everything was absolutely perfect. They swear that a disgruntled worker sabotaged the whole place and literally killed thousands of people by connecting a hose from one pipe to the tanks.... I cannot believe that they think people are stupid enough to believe that. While it may be possible, the evidence against Union Carbide is overwhelming. Even if a person did sneak in and sabotage during a shift change, why did they allow the place to be deserted with no type of guard. Sounds like some more lack of responsibility on their part. DOW Chemical is just as guilty in this for covering up so they don't have to pay out any money, and they are lying liars.

~~~~~~~~~~ACTUAL THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK IF YOU SKIPPED THAT OTHER PART~~~~~~~~

As far as the book itself goes, the research was amazing. There was a great background story about why India was a prime place to manufacture and sell pesticides. There was a very human element to it, as it followed people's lives that lived and died in the area. It had a lot of details about how the plant operated and how the chemicals were handled. I don't know if the average reader would just select this to read, but if you are a historian, interested in Indian history, or into disasters, this is a must read book. I enjoyed it, and was not bored at all. Especially once I got to the actual disaster part. It did make me absolutely furious, but I suppose that was part of the point. To get people to be furious about disasters like this and the shady business that goes into creating them and the cover ups that happen after. It was worth the $4 I spent on it, but if you are a Kindle reader it is $2.99 on there. Whew, I feel like I ranted a lot, so if you read all of that, I apologize. I was just so mad about this situation!!