Reps. Miller, Dean, Durhal, Haugh, Huckleberry, Leland, Liss, Nathan, Polidori, Roberts, Slavens, Smith, Switalski, Tlaib and Valentine offered the following resolution:

            House Resolution No. 174.

            A resolution to urge the Dow Chemical Company to clean up environmental contamination at the now defunct chemical plant in Bhopal, India.

            Whereas, In the dead of night on December 3, 1984, 42 tons of highly toxic methyl isocyanate gas was released from a chemical plant, Union Carbide India, Limited, jointly owned by Union Carbide and an Indian subsidiary. Estimates of the death toll from the release range from over 2,200 to tens of thousands. It is estimated that 100,000 to 200,000 people suffered permanent injuries from the exposure; and

            Whereas, Environmental contamination at the plant continues to threaten human health and the environment even after closure of the plant in 1986. Hazardous chemicals, such as naphthalene, mercury, chromium, lead, pesticides, and organochlorines have been dumped at the site, contaminating soil and groundwater. The contamination at the site is the direct result of years of mismanaging hazardous chemicals and waste at the site; and

            Whereas, Liability for proper cleanup of the site has been averted by real and paper ownership changes. Union Carbide claims to have sold the Indian subsidiary that operated the Bhopal plant to another Indian company in 1994. This sale is believed to have been a paper sale with Union Carbide retaining significant management responsibility. The Dow Chemical Company bought Union Carbide in 2001 for more than $10 billion and claims it is absolved of liability because of prior ownership changes. Union Carbide profited from the plant in Bhopal and failed to adequately clean up the site leaving an environmental disaster behind. When it purchased Union Carbide, the Dow Chemical Company set aside over $2 billion to address Union Carbide's pending asbestos liabilities in the United States. The Dow Chemical Company should do the same to address the cleanup of the environmental disaster left behind by Union Carbide in Bhopal, India; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge the Dow Chemical Company to clean up environmental contamination at the now defunct chemical plant in Bhopal, India; and be it further

            Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Dow Chemical Company.