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LEAD-IN BY HOST SEHBA SARWAR: Seadrtift native Diane Wilson, a fourth generation fisherwoman and long time environmental activist, is on the 30th day of a hunger strike against the Dow Chemical plant in Seadrift, TX. Hers is a solidarity fast with survivors of the 1984 Bhopal, India disaster, the worst industrial accident in history. Because Dow bought Union Carbide last year, Wilson is calling for compensation to the victims and for a clean up of the still-contaminated site. Locally, she is calling for Dow to take responsibility for the contaminated area in and around their Calhoun County plant site, including San Antonio bay. Jackson Allers reports live from Seadrift. INTERVIEW: Allers: Bhopal lives in Seadrift, and poison knows no boundaries. New themes tossed around today outside of the Dow plant. Diane is here, Diane, please let the listeners know why your hunger strike is also a local issue. Wilson: When the gas leaked in India, there was intensive reports and investigations like two years before the release ever happened. There were over 66 hazardous violations that Union Carbide knew about. They were cutting their safety force from like six men to two men. They were cutting the refrigeration which [was] supposed to be around the entire unit. And they were saving like $40 a day, and this type of accident was known within the Union Carbide headquarters. They knew there was a possibility, and then the imaginable ... it happened. And the same thing happened in our own Seadrift Union Carbide facility. In 1991, Union Carbide was voted the safest plant in Texas, and two months after that announcement, the plant exploded. It killed one worker, 32 were injured. It injured 6 citizens who weren't even inside the plant. And shrapnel the size of cars was being thrown all over the countryside. And what we found out. ... I had an OSHA, which regulates safety, I had them slip a document to me that was never supposed to see the light of day. And what it said was that for 20 years Union Carbide knew all about the hazards and that these hazards were likely to cause death and serious injury. And for 20 years, Union Carbide refused to do it. And the reason why was because of money. It was too expensive. And the imaginable happened here. So it is the same issue, either in India or in Seadrift. The corporation is still the same corporation. Allers: Diane, If you could tell me really quick what is your hope for this hunger strike? Wilson: My hope for this hunger strike and most certainly it is my belief; I believe that the people of Bhopal will finally see justice. And I got an e-mail from a woman over there, and they said that for the first time they finally believe they will win. And this has been 18 years of a struggle where they have butt up heads against Union carbide and now Dow, and the Indian government, and finally this expansion .. people all over the country, all over the world are standing up on behalf of the people of Bhopal, and finally, now it will happen. From Calhoun County, this is Jackson Allers with KPFT News.
E-mail Jackson Allers at jacksona@earthlink.net .
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