Archive ▸ 2006 ▸ 2006-09-25

Policy Order O-8

City Council, September 25, 2006 · Charter right exercised

Councillor Davis

WHEREAS: On December 3, 1984, the world's worst chemical disaster took place in Bhopal, India, when a Union Carbide Corporation chemical plant unleashed a cloud of deadly chemicals that killed more than 3,000 people in a single night, and has been responsible for over 20,000 deaths since; and

WHEREAS: In the intervening years, Union Carbide Corporation abandoned all responsibility for the site or the plight of survivors and their children; and

WHEREAS: Union Carbide Corporation has refused to submit to the jurisdiction of the Indian government in the pending criminal case against it where it is charged with culpable homicide for the deaths allegedly caused by its negligence; and

WHEREAS: Union Carbide Corporation is currently an offender in the eyes of the Indian Government after the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court in Bhopal proclaimed the company an absconder from justice for its failure to honor the process of law; and

WHEREAS: Union Carbide Corporation was purchased by The Down Chemical Company in 2001; and

WHEREAS: The Dow Chemical Company professes to lead the chemical industry in sustainability and ethical practices; and

WHEREAS: The Dow Chemical Company too has refused to address pending issues in Bhopal or force its subsidiary Union Carbide Corporation to appear in the Indian court to face criminal charges; now therefore be it

RESOLVED: That the City Council go on record recommending that the members of the Cambridge Retirement Board of Trustees vote in favor of resolutions requesting information from the company regarding the Bhopal disaster and possible avenues of remediation of the site; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the City Council go on record recommending that the members of the Cambridge Retirement Board of Trustees divest of Dow bonds and refrain from future purchases of Dow Bonds; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the City Clerk be and hereby is requested to forward a suitably copy of this resolution to the Cambridge Retirement Board of Trustees on behalf of the entire City Council.

← O-7 · meeting of September 25, 2006 · O-8 →

Recovered record. The city's clerk database (2002–2015) went offline; this page was rebuilt from the Internet Archive's capture of the original page (2012-07-29). Dates and codes are read from the document itself, never from the database's ids.