Word: plants
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...week after 45 tons of methyl isocyanate leaked out of the plant, leaving more than 2,500 people dead in the worst industrial disaster ever, the facility was preparing to resume operations temporarily. About 15 tons of the deadly chemical still remained in storage tank No. 619. If it were allowed to stay there indefinitely, it could turn into gas and start leaking again. After much deliberation, a team of top Indian and American scientists decided that the safest solution was to reopen the facility for five days or so, just long enough to process the excess methyl isocyanate into...
...Union Carbide pesticide plant in the central Indian city of Bhopal looked as if it were being prepared for a war. All day long, giant Indian Air Force MI-8 helicopters swooped down into the area, while special Indian Army units trained in chemical warfare were airlifted to the local airport and positioned within the 72-acre compound. Around the city, more than 2,000 paramilitary troops and armed police officers were moved in to lend emergency assistance. Meanwhile, thousands of civilians were fleeing the city...
...countdown to the factory's reopening continued, state officials took drastic precautions to prevent a recurrence of the fatal leak. Throughout the detoxification process, which was to be undertaken only during daylight hours, a helicopter was to circle 200 ft. above the plant. At even the slightest sign of a gas escape, the pilot, protected by a special oxygen mask, would release up to 317 gal. of water to degrade the lethal chemical. If more water were needed, two more helicopters would come to the rescue. All around the facility, blinking lights were set up to help guide...
Union Carbide also made public a report compiled two years ago by three company inspectors. On a tour of the Bhopal plant in May 1982, the team had discovered ten potentially major safety deficiencies, as well as a number of other irregularities. These included a pressure relief valve on a gas storage tank that would be unable to stop a "runaway reaction" and a possibility of "accidental overfilling" of a tank holding the lethal chemical. All-or none-of those ten problems may have contributed to the recent tragedy. Company officials insisted that nine of the deficiencies had been corrected...
...Japanese share of the compact-truck market slipped to 41.7% a year ago. Toyota and Nissan, two of the leading Japanese vehicle manufacturers, are third and fourth in the market. While Toyota exports all of its trucks from Japan, Nissan builds 8,000 a month at its new plant in Smyrna, Tenn. The two companies have only 9.5% of the American car business, but they control 38.7% of the light-truck market...