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Discussion with Dow Boardmember Jackie Barton

On May 19th, 2003, Dan Feldman, a member of the CalTech Environmental Task Force, sat down with Dow Boardmember and CalTech Chemistry Professor Jackie Barton to discuss the Bhopal disaster and Dow's continuing liability. In the half-hour discussion, Jackie Barton denied that Dow possessed any continuing liability for the disaster. Although Professor Barton sympathized with the suffering of the people of Bhopal, she felt that it was unlikely that Dow would do anything philanthropic because doing so would be both unfair to Dow and its shareholders and an implicit admission of guilt.

When asked what could be done for the people of Bhopal, Professor Barton stated that there should be an international "passing of the hat" and that instead of trying to influence Dow, perhaps Greenpeace and the ICJB should go about organizing an international fundraising campaign to help the people of Bhopal.

Dan mentioned that the former factory site in Bhopal is polluting the groundwater and continuing to affect the people of Bhopal, many of whom are victims of the 1984 MIC release. He asked Professor Barton what she felt Dow's responsibility was in this matter and she said it was the responsibility of the current landowner. When Dan suggested that the polluter pays principle should apply--and would, under Superfund, in the United States--she again reiterated that she felt that the current owner should be liable.

When asked if she was on the Dow Board at the time of Dow's purchase of Union Carbide, Professor Barton affirmed that she was. She stated that she was aware of the potential for liabilities in Bhopal but stated (in a rough paraphrase), "I view Dow as the good guys here. So the takeover of Union Carbide was a good thing. It brought more of the chemical industry under the direction of the good guys which is a good thing." (See our Dirty Dow page.) When asked, Professor Barton stated that she was unaware of Dow's ongoing lawsuit against Bhopal survivors for participating in a peaceful protest outside Dow's Bombay headquarters, but said that she would look into it. She was also unaware of Dow's contamination of the Plaquemine, Louisiana, water supply with vinyl chloride, but she felt confident that the people at Dow were doing the best that they could given the known technology to develop and produce chemicals in a safe and socially-conscious way.

Dan asked Professor Barton for her opinion on the extradition of Warren Anderson and she responded by asking for his. Dan told her that he felt that the United States should honor its extradition treaty with India and facilitate in the serving of the warrant against Mr. Anderson. Professor Barton said in passing that she thought that was reasonable.

In closing, Professor Barton stated that the people at Dow really are all trying to do the right thing: that it's not an issue of good vs. evil. In addition, she stated that compared to many settings in which toxic chemicals are used (such as the university) Dow is much much cleaner and that the company is always trying its best to protect people. Sometimes new science and technology comes to light for how to deal with chemicals and that the mistakes of the past are a product of the lack of toxicological data and/or the lack of proper containment technology.

At the end of the discussion Dan handed Professor Barton a petition signed by about 40 members of the Caltech community expressing concern about the Bhopal incident. She was very reluctant to accept the petition but finally did so after Dan insisted and she saw that it was addressed to her and not to the Dow Corporation as a whole.

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Pressuring Dow Boardmember Jackie Barton

On December 10th, 2004, students at CalTech were joined by five students from Occidental College as they passed out flyers on the CalTech campus, which described the Bhopal disaster and calling on Jackie Barton, one of Dow's Board members and a Professor at CalTech, to agree to the Bhopal survivors demands and to work within Dow to make sure that the company accepts responsibility for the Bhopal disaster.

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Bhopal Teach-in

On April 16th, 2003, students with the CalTech Environmental Task Force hosted a teach-in and discussion with Nity Jayaraman, a longtime Bhopal activist from India. Jackie Barton, one of Dow's Board of Directors and a professor at CalTech, was invited to the session, but was unable to attend. It was attended instead by several dozen interested CalTech students, who heard about the Bhopal disaster, the campaign, and attempts to make Dow accept responsibility.

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Concert Fundraiser

Students at CalTech had planned a concert with the band "Jupiter Sunrise" to benefit the victims of the Bhopal disaster, but when the school learned that the concert was associated with Bhopal, they cancelled it at the last minute.

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