European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 15, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday february 15,1989 the stars and stripes Page 3 Bhopal victims to get $470 million new Delhi India up Union Carbide corp. Agreed tuesday to pay $470 million in compensation to victims of the Bhopal Gas disaster i december 1984 that killed some 3,000 people the Indian supreme court said. Chief Justice . Pathak said the court had considered All aspects of the Case and found it was eminently fit for an Overall settlement in View of the acute suffering of the disaster  the Surprise agreement was reached As attorney general k. Paras ran resumed Oral arguments be fore a five Justice panel of India s highest court on pretrial disputes Between the government and  multinational corporation. The chief Justice said the panel believed that$470 million was a just fair equitable and reason Able  Paras ran immediately agreed to the figure say ing prime minister Rajiv Gandhi s government will gratefully accept whatever your lordship  Fali s. Nariman Union Carbide s Lead lawyer told Pathak that the corporation also consented to the proposal. I am standing before the highest court of theland Nariman said. We have been pleading for a fair and just settlement and i accept the  the figure is less than a $500 million settlement the two sides were considering in out of court negotiations at the end of 1987. Those negotiations failed when the government reportedly backed Down amid protests by victims and opposition Par ties that the amount was too Small. Issuing an Impromptu Legal order Pathak directed Union Carbide to pay $470 million to the government by March 31 in a full and final settlement of All claims rights and liabilities arising from the . 3,. 1984, leak of poisonous Gas fro the company s now defunct pesticide Plant in Bho pal. The City is the capital of the state of Adhya Pravesh 375 Miles South of new Delhi. Pathak also declared As quashed All criminal proceedings related to the Case thereby overturning charges of culpable homicide filed by the govern ment against Union Carbide former chairman War Ren Anderson its Indian subsidiary seven officers of the subsidiary and the firm s Hong Kong based far East office. To Date More than 3,000 people have died fro the effects of the Vapours that spewed Over Large areas of the sleeping City from an underground Tan containing 40 tons of Methyl is Cyanate used in manufacturing pesticides. The chemical vaporized when water entered the tank and the fumes gushed from a valve that burst from a massive buildup of pressure. More than 200,000 people were injured by the choking blinding Vapours. On average one person a Day is still dying from the effects government officials said. Thousands of victims Are suffering debilitating health problems that require continuous medical attention and have prevented Many from resuming Normal lives including employment. Medical experts have reported abnormally High numbers of stillbirths and pregnancy problems among women exposed to the Gas and have said the chemical could cause genetic damage. More than $1 billion in damage claims was filed against the firm in the United states. The cases were consolidated and ordered returned to India where the government passed legislation making it the sole Legal representative of the victims. In september 1986, new Delhi filed a civil suit in Bhopal District court charging that Union car bide s failure to install adequate safety systems at the Plant and faults in the facility s design were responsible for the disaster. It sought $3 billion in compensation for some 500,000 people whose lives it said were affected by the leak through the deaths or injuries of relatives personal injuries income loss or other factors. The company based in Danbury conn., filed a counter suit alleging that sabotage by a disgruntled employee caused the disaster and that the Central and state governments bore some liability for the casualties since they permitted thousands of people to dwell around the Plant in illegal shanty colonies. The Case reached the supreme court after Bhopal District court judge . Deo in december 1987 ordered Union Carbide to pay $270 million in interim Relief while pre trial wrangling was under Way. On Appeal the Adhya Pravesh supreme court reduced the amount to $ 192 million. Khrushchev s son in . The son of one time soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev strolls at Harvard University in Cambridge mass., on monday with Graham Allison right Dean of the John f. Kennedy school of  Khrushchev is making his second trip to the United states since he visited with his father in 1959. Soviets staging Surprise visit to former cruise missile Plant san Diego a a team of Sovi ets was to inspect a former . Cruise missile production facility in san Diego on tuesday in the first Surprise Check of american compliance with the 1987 intermediate Range nuclear forces treaty officials said. The 10-member delegation was to tour air Force Plant 19, operated by general dynamics con Vair division to verify that components of the banned air Force Tomahawk missile system Are no longer being produced there. Soviet inspectors were required to leave san Diego by 1 30 . Tuesday. They did not plan to comment publicly on their visit said capt. Ken Pease chief spokesman for the on site inspection Agency in Washington . The inf treaty allows both nations 20 unscheduled visits of each other s defense plants annually through 1992, when the number drops to 15 per year. It will be reduced again in 1997 to 10 visits annually for the remainder of the 13-year pact. . Inspectors have made six of their Short notice visits to soviet defense site this year but Pease said this is the Sovi ets first such Check. We were Given 16 hours notice by the soviets that they were coming As the treaty stipulates for unscheduled vis its he said monday. Transporter erectors used for the ground launched air Force Tomahawk missile which has Grange of 1,500 Miles were produced at leased areas of air Force Plant 19 in downtown san Diego. The 1987 treaty Calls for eliminating the . Military s stockpile of 859 air Force Tomahawk cruise missiles and army Pershing ii missiles in Exchange for the elimination of the soviet Union s 1,752 intermediate or Shorter Range nuclear missiles. Navy Tomahawk models which can be fired at sea Are not involved in the Accord. New Public buses must have wheelchair lifts court rules Philadelphia a a . Appeals court ruled monday that wheel chair lifts Are required on new Public buses nationwide and plaintiffs lawyers called it the most important Victory yet for disabled americans seeking Access Tomass transit. In its 2-1 ruling the 3rd . Circuit court of appeals also upheld a lower court order that the Federal department of transportation eliminate a 3 percent Cap on the amount of Money transit authorities must spend to improve transportation for the disabled. In his dissent however judge Morton i. Greenberg wrote the Impact of the major Ity s decision will be very substantial throughout the country and will interfere with the local decision making authority. I feel the court is  the majority opinion by judge Carol los Mansmann said a transportation depart ment regulation requiring All new buses to accommodate wheelchairs conflicts with a regulation allowing communities to offer Only an alternative service to the disabled. The court noted that a 24-hour Reser vation needed for the alternative service Hin Ders spontaneous use of mass transit. The judges ordered transit authorities to make reasonable accommodations to their pro Grams . Purchase  the Cost of improving transit services for the disabled would depend on each system according to Timothy Cook who represented the plaintiffs. It costs $15,000 to equip a bus with a wheelchair lift said Joaquin Bowman a spokesman for the Southeastern Pennsylvania transportation authority. Each bus costs about $200,000, he said. Greenberg said in his dissent that the Section concerning wheelchair lifts for new buses was not meant to apply to transit systems choosing alternative transportation for the disabled. He also said the 3 percent Cap imposed in 1986 by the Reagan administration was not arbitrary