Executive Summary On December 3, 1984, toxic poisonous methyl isocyanate gas leaked from Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL 's) pesticide plant in Bhopal. The gas leak triggered a disaster that is now widely recognized as the world worst industrial catastrophe. Thousands of people were killed instantly and more than 25,000 people have died of gas-related illnesses, several thousands more maimed for life since. Union Carbide negotiated a settlement with the Indian Government in 1989 for $470 million
E SSAYS ON TWENTIETH-C ENTURY H ISTORY In the series Critical Perspectives on the Past, edited by Susan Porter Benson, Stephen Brier, and Roy Rosenzweig Also in this series: Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes, eds., Oral History and Public Memories Tiffany Ruby Patterson, Zora Neale Hurston and a History of Southern Life Lisa M. Fine, The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A. Van Gosse and Richard Moser, eds., The World the Sixties Made: Politics and Culture in