DELANTAR, Emmanuel P.

21/02/2022
BSIE-2-GK

Hawk’s Nest Tragedy – (A project is a project, Death is just a number)

 Background
Happened in the early 1930s, the construction of Hawk’s Nest Tunnel near
Gauley Bridge, West Virginia was supposed to be the diversion of water from the
New River to a Hydroelectric plant downstream. The water was meant to be used
to produce electricity for Union Carbide’s metals plant at Alloy, West Virginia.

As it was a big project, many workers were hired, and almost two-thirds of
them were African Americans. In total, the approximate number of workers were
3, 000, with the value of 2, 900 workers working inside the tunnel.

 Cause
When they’d already drilled and blasted a 32-36-foot tunnel through the
mountain, signs of high contained rock silicas were already appearing. Their dry
drilling techniques precipitated large amounts of silica that were not meant for a
human body resulting in silicosis (a disease that infects the lungs leading to
shortness of breath and eventually, death because it cannot be cured.). They
should have already stopped at times when they already saw the concrete danger.
Together with, stated that it was a Civil Engineering project, dismayed
come to mind because of lack forms of safeties were not applied like; poor
ventilation, lack of dust control, limited use of personal breathing protection,
improper safety implementation, poor hazard action, and lack of proper
topographic investigation.”

 Impact and Damage Estimate

In the total of 3, 000 workers, 764 workers of them died because of

silicosis and the fact that injuries were not counted. After the project was
completed, many more died because of silica exposure.
Fact Check
- It is one of the worst industrial disasters in American History
- Largest number of death due to silicosis
- Their burial ground can be found in Martha White’s Farm and became
an issue because they’re black and the fact that their number is
massive.
Asbestos Menace - (Unawareness is a great threat)
 Background
Asbestos is a fibrous silicate mineral that has resistant to heat, electricity,
and corrosion. It comes from the Greek word “sasbestos” meaning
inextinguishable or unquenchable. It was already in use since 3, 000 BC to
embalm bodies of Egyptian pharaohs to prevent them from deterioration. In 2,
500 BC, it was used in Finland for clay pot manufacturing making it heat
resistant. Around 456 BC, Herodotus referred to the use of Asbestos to wrap
around the corpse and prevent their ashes from mixing with the fire itself or wood
ashes.
Its characteristics make it shine like gold, and its different uses and the
benefits that it can bring. From insulations in-home, shipyard, military vessels,
warships, and up-to-school insulations to filter cigarettes; and was then
considered a “miracle” object.

 Cause
In October 1964, Dr. Irving J. Selikoff told more than 400 scientists at the
Conference on the Biological Effects of Asbestos, that asbestos is killing workers.
During his meeting, he properly presented and linked the effect of asbestos
inhalation on the human body and how it is related to cancer, together with other
respiratory diseases considering it as a menace.
So, the cause is, they lack proper knowledge or experimentation about
what can asbestos do, we were blind to its aptitude attributes. They also lack
proper discipline, according to Paul Safchuck, an Asbestosis patient that worked
at Sparrow Point Shipyard from 1935 to 1975, “They never told the average
worker that what they were working with was dangerous. They were making too
much money to worry about it.”. Another statement of his “At lunchtime, we
would sit down on the deck, which was covered with asbestos dust, lay our
lunches down on it and eat right there,” added that they were handling asbestos
with bare hands and never thought to wear respirators.
Due to these events and claims, we can already see the lack of knowledge
and information about asbestos. Lack of discipline at work although that is
subjective, however, the main cause is lack of information.

 Impact and Damage Estimate

 Let us for a while set aside the statistical values, and let our imagination
do the work. Asbestos was in use for a very long time, used in different objects
and work, so just imagine the impact it already brings. Imagine a military hugging
his family with his military vessel containing asbestos, the factory workers that
grabbed their sons before reaching their home, and the students in a room
insulated with asbestos. Just imagine the impact it brought for a very long time
without us knowing it.
This result is presented by Global Asbestos Disaster – NCBI. Asbestos
causes an estimated 255,000 deaths (243,223–260,029) annually according to the
latest knowledge, of which work-related exposures are responsible for 233,000
deaths (222,322–242,802), and it is because of Mesothelioma (a disease linked
with asbestos exposure).
Here are some statistical values linked with Asbestos:
Bhopal Tragedy – (We do have precautions, but not in action)
 Background
On the night of 2-3 December 1984 approximately 11 o’clock, in the city
of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh state, India about 45 tons of the dangerous gas methyl
isocyanate escaped from an insecticide plant that was owned by the Indian subsidiary
of the American firm Union Carbide Corporation. Despite the clear effect, the
company tried to dissociate itself from its legal responsibilities. Eventually, they
accepted their moral responsibilities paying 470 million dollars as compensation, but
it was never enough for their lethal actions intentional or unintentional it may.
Fact Check
- Methyl Isocyanate gas is a flammable liquid, explosion hazard, and
highly poisonous compound.
- It will produce poisonous gases not meant to be inhaled when in the
fire.
- It can only be cured by dry chemical or CO2 extinguishers and highly
emphasized to do not use water.
- It can cause asthma-like allergy, asthma attacks with shortness of
breath, wheezing, cough, and/or chest tightness.
- Premature death

 Cause
 In the middle of the night, an operator noticed leakage of MIC and an unnatural
increase in the gas pressure inside the tank. Although they have vent-gas scrubbers
which should be used to neutralize toxic discharge, stated that it had been turned off
three weeks prior. Together with, apparently, a faulty valve released one ton of water
for cleaning pipes that were mixed with MIC, and we know that MIC is highly
emphasized not to be mixed with water. Although, that they have 30-ton refrigeration,
it is not enough to neutralize the chemical reaction because it is already used in some
parts of the plant. They also have a Gas Flare Safety System, but it was already out of
action three months before the said incident.

According to Britannica, substandard operating and safety procedures at the

understaffed plant had led to the catastrophe. As we can see in the brief statement
above, they do have safety machines that can be used in times of hazard, however,
most of them are not working or not in good condition. Basically, they don’t really
know the lethality of the chemical inside their chambers. The fact that weeks have
passed that their safety machines are not working but they were continuously in the
operation makes it intentional. Yes, they do have the capability to cure it or
extinguish the toxic leakage, but their safety precautions are not in action during
Bhopal Tragedy.
 Impact and Damage Estimate

According to EHJournal, it killed 15, 000 to 20, 000 Indians during few days after
the Bhopal tragedy, 558, 125 injuries, 120, 000 continuously suffering devastating
health effects, and is the worst industrial accident in history up to these days. It also
leads to thousands of premature babies estimated to be 15, 000 to 20, 000 after two
decades. Additional reports of the Indian government stated that half a million people
were exposed to the gas, and epidemiological studies after the incident reported that
mortality increased in the said population.

We know that India is a poor country and overpopulated making it difficult for
Bhopal citizens to recover from this tragedy. Same with the fact that they cannot yet
return to their homeland because plants, animals, earth, and especially water were
polluted up to these days. In a video on YouTube held by Aftermath, a statement
instilled in my mind “We’re still drinking poisonous water”, just imagine that they
cannot do anything about it, it is only a matter of when, when they will die because of
poison or when will they die because of thirst, or better to say what comes first. In the
latter part of it, a man stated, “my wife died because of cancer, and my daughter lost
both of her eyes, I wish I died that night”. I’m certain he’s not the only one with a
story like that, and these are the lethality and devastating facts about the Bhopal
tragedy.

Factory Fire in Bangladesh (November 2012) – (No Way Out)

 Background
Well from the title itself, it is a Factory Fire in Bangladesh most known as the
Dhaka garment factory fire that happened on November 24, 2012, in the Tazreen
Fashion factory in the Ashulia district on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. This
factory employed about 1, 500 workers and have an annual sales of 35 million dollars
per year. Their main products are T-shirts, polo shirts, and fleece jackets. Bangladesh
is the second-largest exporter of garment, those garments were taken by Walmart,
Tommy Hilfiger, and the Gap.
The factory is a 7-story building with a rooftop and has so many windows
according to what I’ve seen in some photos. Stated also that they are not on the main
highway making it difficult for some firetruck to come closer, and anxious relatives
of the workers also emerged during the fire tragedy. The fire also spread so fast
because we know that it was a garment factory making it very prone to fire.

 Cause
The main cause of this tragedy is that they don’t have any fire exit that can be
used by the workers to immediately get out of the factory in times of hazard like this.
I’ve also noticed that they don’t have a firewall to separate them from other buildings
and ensure that no outsider fire can come inside. The saddest part is that the doorways
to the rooftop were said to be illegally locked according to fire officials. That could
be their asylum during the fire because it cannot reach the top. They were also closed
to other infrastructure, in that way, the fire reached them easily.

The fire started on the ground floor making it impossible for the other workers on
the higher floor to escape because there’s no proper exit. That is the reason why they
were trapped inside, lack of architectural design, proper precautions, and
management.

 Impact and Damage Estimate

It caused a lot of depression, and emotional damage for those factory workers’
relatives but let us jump to estimated numbers of injuries and death. In total, it killed
more than 100 factory workers burned alive to death, and only their corpses were
recovered. 200 factory workers were also injured during the said incident, making it
the deadliest factory fire in the nation’s history. Together with, some of them
attempted to jump outside the factory however most of them were women, so they
don’t have the courage to jump and there’s no guarantee to survive because some of
them died eventually in the hospital after their attempt.

There’s no accurate numerical value for the total damage however, it surely has
an impact on the economic status of Bangladesh and the companies related to the
factory. There is a story of a survivor who fled using a bamboo scaffolding, he stated
 that he lost his mother when they were making their way down, just imagine “Abot
kamay mo lang siya ehh”, however because of intense panic you’ve lost her. He then
said, “I tried to search for her for like 10 – 15 minutes but I never found her again
because it is too dark in the factory”. Just imagine the emotional damage this factory
fire has brought.

The Hawk’s Nest Tunnel Disaster: Summerville, WV by NPS.gov.

https://www.nps.gov/neri/planyourvisit/the-hawks-nest-tunnel-disaster-summersville-
wv.htm

Seven Decades of Safety: Asbestos Becomes a Menace by EHSToday published on

October 1, 2008, by Lisa Finnegan.
https://www.ehstoday.com/safety/article/21904608/seven-decades-of-safety-asbestos-
becomes-a-menace

The Bhopal Disaster and its Aftermath: a review, Article number 6 by Edward
Broughton and Published on May 10, 2005
https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1476-069X-4-6

Fatal Fire in Bangladesh Highlights the Dangers Facing Garment Workers, The
New York Times by Vikas Bajaj on November 25, 2012
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/26/world/asia/bangladesh-fire-kills-more-than-
100-and-injures-many.html