During the nights of Dec. 2 and 3, 1984, a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, began leaking 27 tons of a deadly gas called methyl isocyanate (or MIC). Not one of the six safety systems designed to contain such a leak was operational allowing the gas to spread throughout the city of Bhopal. Half a million people were exposed to the gas. About 8,000 died the first week and 20,000 have died to date. More than 120,000 people still suffer from ailments caused by the accident and subsequent pollution of the plant site. The ailments include blindness, extreme difficulty in breathing and gynecological disorders.