B'eaupal bottled water comes to London

“B’EAUPAL” BOTTLED WATER LAUNCH STUNT

Bottled water prank reveals shocking truth behind Indian city of Bhopal’s poisoned legacy as Yes Men challenge Dow executives to drink the very water they polluted.

LONDON. The Yes Men, two US filmmakers whose hilarious but alarming documentary feature is to be released in UK cinemas next month, are set to bring the plight of the people of Bhopal to the West by bringing Bhopal drinking water to Londoners on Monday 13 July.

“B’EAUPAL” Bottled Water will be launched, in bottles, specially designed by a top creative design company. It will give Londoners and the press an idea of what people in one of the poorest, and most exploited, parts of the world have to drink every day.

There are thousand of people in Bhopal whose only reliable source of drinking water is heavily polluted with toxic chemicals. The toxic chemicals were abandoned at the site of the world’s worst-ever industrial disaster, at a Union Carbide (now owned by Dow) pesticide factory in Bhopal, and have now polluted the area’s drinking water.

The B’EAUPAL water will look suspiciously like a ‘Dow’ product and, after it has been launched in London, the Yes Men will take it along to Dow’s UK HQ in Staines and will challenge the executives to drink it.

The twist in the tail is the fact that, at this point, it will be made very clear that the water in the bottle, which they are being offered, is in fact a genuine sample of the highly toxic water imported from Bhopal. They WILL NOT want to drink it!

At the same time, a new report studying the toxic water problem in Bhopal, will be published and the Dow executives will be presented with a copy.

For further information, contact:
Colin Toogood, The Bhopal Medical Appeal www.bhopal.org

07798 845074

colintoogood@bhopal.org

THE FEATURE FILM, The Yes Men Fix The World

Directed by The Yes Men (Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno) in collaboration with Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 editor Kurt Engfehr, who co- directs, The Yes Men Fix The World leads us through the daring political pranks of two gonzo activists as they take on the fake identity of corporate executives in a bid to highlight the greed and brutal selfishness of some of the world’s biggest and most powerful multi-national corporations. The Yes Men Fix The World will be shown across the UK in participating cinemas on Tuesday 11 August, via a nationwide satellite link-up, having received the Berlin Film Festival’s prestigious Audience Award earlier this year.

www.theyesmenfixtheworld.com

BHOPAL, background to the TOXIC WATER. One night in December 1984 a poorly maintained Union Carbide (now owned by Dow) pesticide plant, leaked tons of highly toxic MIC gas on to the unsuspecting inhabitants of the slums of Bhopal, India.

People were killed as they slept, or as they tried to escape. An estimated 10,000 people died, within 72 hours, and over 20,000 more have died since as a direct result.

The disaster site was never cleaned up and now around 25,000 people, living near the abandoned factory, continue to be exposed to the same poisons thanks to contamination of their drinking water supplies.

Greenpeace label the area a ‘Global Toxic Hot Spot’ and studies have found that “the groundwater, vegetables and even breast milk is contaminated to various degrees by heavy metals like nickel, chromium, mercury and lead, and volatile organic compounds.” (Shristi 2002)

Health problems, associated with this toxic water, are many and various. Some of the contaminants are carcinogenic, can damage the brain or the internal organs. Some are particularly harmful to children and foetuses.

Studies show that children in the most severely affected community, Atul Ayub Nagar, are born underweight, weak, and with discolored skin. The worst cases have twisted limbs and mental disorders.

A new report, entitled “Qualitative Description of the Water Supply Among Communities Surrounding the Former Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) Pesticide Plant in Bhopal”, by The Sambhavna Trust, Bhopal, India, is being published for the first time, to coincide with these events, and includes a full survey, and chemical analysis of the water supply in Atul Ayub Nagar.

DOW, are they MENTAL?

In an extraordinary press release the Dow Chemical Company announced its commitment to creating safe, sustainable water supplies around the world, Andrew Liveris (Chairman and CEO of Dow) said:

"Water is the single most important chemical compound for the preservation and flourishing of human life," Liveris said. "And yet today, more than a billion people are in peril every day because they do not have enough water or the water they have is unhealthy. Lack of clean water is the single largest cause of disease in the world and more than 4,500 children die each day because of it."

The press release goes on to outline Dow’s 2015 Sustainability Goals, which include the goal of achieving breakthrough solutions in four critical areas affecting human life today:

• Affordable and adequate food supply

• Safe and affordable housing

• Improved personal health and safety

• Sustainable water supply efforts

Liveris’ annual earnings come to $16,182,544, or $311,202.76 a week, or £62,240 per day. He could afford to give each of the 4,500 children worldwide who die each day, due to water born disease, $14 every single day of the year…