I had to read it very carefully several times to be sure I was getting the true context of what appeared to have happened? It did NOT say anything about the rank and file workers of either company making any contributions. It was the "Companies" themselves kicking in the bucks.
I wish to be very clear that there is no doubt in my mind there thousands of good decent folks that work for DuPont and have over the years. My heartburn is that with all the damage to the people in the MOV that no one is going to jail. Thousands diseased, how many dead, and no one liable?
So what you say? Well, I am seeing along with the millions thrown at Vienna with the assistance of Mr. Rapp, the "buying off" of the people on the C8 issues? These donations while surely of value to the those VFDs are little more than sops to build good will after the recent brouhaha on the too small proposed settlement of $671 Million for the 3500 C8 cases in the system.
In Vienna, I am going to speculate, operative term speculate that Chemours who up too the last minute denied any culpability but was "told" by the EPA to provide the Filtration Systems to the City might well have spent not just the $12 Million for the Filtration Systems @ $1.5 Million each, but with all the other freebees as much as another $1 Million or more? That is a lot of money for a company that was not liable for anything? Remember, initially, we were only to have received four.
For those, if there are any who may remember a little place called Bhopal India? There was what was called at that time the " Worst Industrial Disaster". This article is located in the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. It is credited there to the BioMed Central, Open Access Publisher. Further credited to an Environmental Health source.
Environ Health. 2005; 4: 6. Edward Broughton
Published online 2005 May 10. (Posted here 2:30 02 25 2017)
The Bhopal disaster and its aftermath: a review
"On December 3 1984, more than 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, immediately killing at least 3,800 people and causing significant morbidity and premature death for many thousands more. The company involved in what became the worst industrial accident in history immediately tried to dissociate itself from legal responsibility, (my italics). Eventually it reached a settlement with the Indian Government through mediation of that country's Supreme Court and accepted moral responsibility. It paid $470 million in compensation, a relatively small amount of based on significant underestimations of the long-term health consequences of exposure and the number of people exposed". (This is just most of the first paragraph and what is titled "Abstract").
Again, so what say you? Well, it shows the ongoing and apparently still happening disastrous effects of this one day disaster? Now the above U.S. Company that is later identified as one Union Carbide Corporation (UCC). It was subsequently purchased by another Conglomerate named Dow Chemical. Now as we know, Dow and DuPont are in the midst of a merger. Watch this closely as if approved and totally completed will in the long run cost consumers much more than they are now paying for the products we use. And potentially our continued safety everywhere?
The above article is far too long for me to post in its entirety, but I would like with your patience to post parts of the article that seem appropriate to enter our lives and well being here in the MOV.
"December 2004 marked the twentieth anniversary of the massive toxic gas leak from Union Carbide Corporation's chemical plant in Bhopal in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India that killed more than 3,800 people. This review examines the health effects of exposure to the disaster, the legal response, the lessons learned and whether or not these are put into practice in India in terms of industrial development, environmental management and public health".
We did not have a "one time" explosion as caused the initial result. We did and STILL DO have the cause and effect of C8 for multiple decades in our environment be it our water, dirt and air around us today. It would be reasonable to be able to change the UCC to DuPont and now Chemours as to what has, is and will continue to unravel in our little corner of the World?
"In 1984, the plant was manufacturing Sevin at one quarter of its production capacity due to decreased demand for pesticides. When no ready buyer was found, UCIL (Union Carbide India Limited made plans to dismantle key production units of the facility for shipment to another developing country. In the meantime, the facility continued to operate with safety equipment and procedures far below the standards found in its sister plant in Institute, West Virginia". Guess many of you will be familiar with UCC?
"Had compensation in Bhopal been paid at the same rate that asbestosis victims where being awarded in US courts by defendant including UCC – which mined asbestos from 1963 to 1985 – the liability would have been greater than the $10 billion the company was worth and insured for in 1984. By the end of October 2003, according to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department, compensation had been awarded to 554,895 people for injuries received and 15,310 survivors of those killed". (NOTE: Compensation is through 2003 and it is said the fund is broke and unfunded for many years?).
"At every turn, UCC has attempted to manipulate, obfuscate and withhold scientific data to the detriment of victims". Does any of this sound familiar?
"UCC has shrunk to one sixth of its size since the Bhopal disaster in an effort to restructure and divest itself. By doing so, the company avoided a hostile takeover, placed a significant portion of UCC's assets out of legal reach of the victims and gave its shareholder and top executives bountiful profits. The company still operates under the ownership of Dow Chemicals.......". (my emphasis).
And now, we return to our old stalwart: "The US chemical giant DuPont learned its lesson of Bhopal in a different way. The company attempted for a decade to export a nylon plant from Richmond, VA to Goa, India. In its early negotiations with the Indian government, DuPont had sought and won a remarkable clause in its investment agreement that absolved it from all liabilities in case of an accident. But the people of Goa were not willing to acquiesce while an important ecological site was cleared for a heavy polluting industry. After nearly a decade of protesting by Goa's residents, DuPont was forced to scuttle plans there. Chennai was the next proposed site for the plastics plant. The state government there made significantly greater demand on DuPont for concessions on public health and environmental protection. Eventually, these plans were also aborted due to what the company called "financial concerns".
I have posted before and shall again; the recent proposed settlement is too small by half and the need for new testing in places such as Vienna- Boaz should be paramount. There is sadly and undeniably going to be more disease and death due to the C8. And even as Mr. Rapp was fiercely loyal to his bubba's from DuPont/ Chemours, can we not again ask as too whom does he represent as "Mayor"? Is Vienna number three on a list of two?
I have alleged before, that on 6 July 2016 when there was a meeting between Chemours and the VUB, that a sweetheart deal was reached that was to the detriment of the people of Vienna? I tried to attend that meeting and was denied.
We should be looking ever closer on what is going on with the contamination at the new park. It seems several required agreements and reports have not been submitted timely? 'nuff said'.