Calovera Disaster

The Calovera Disaster was the worst environmental disaster to strike the Selea Republic. It occurred on 25 Lërion 1983 at the height of the Calovera Festival in the city of Reove. The cause was a massive explosion at the Reove plant of the Lati Chemical Corporation which released 90 tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) into the air and polluted the water with 200 tons of dioxin. Approximately 5,000 people died instantly due to the MIC, and an estimated 325,000 continued to suffer from complications due to the toxic chemicals. In total, approximately 107,000 people died as a result of the chemical leak.

Background
The Lati Chemical Corporation built the Reove plant in 1980 to boost production of herbicides and pesticides desired throughout Selea.

The Incident
Despite production being reduced, a large amount of MIC and dioxin was still being stored at the Reove plant.

On the night of 25 Lërion 1983, more than 400,000 people filled the city of Reove for the Calovera Festival. At the Reove plant, a skeleton crew of 35 undertrained staff kept track of the plant. At 1744, water entered Tank 4, the main MIC storage tank, triggering a runaway reaction. An alarm went off at 1755, but it was ignored. Several false alarms went off monthly, and the workers thought that this was no different.

Another alarm, signaling dangerous condition in Tank 4, sounded at the Reove facility. The workers fled the area, though they did not alert the authorities in Reove. At 1853, the top of Tank 4 exploded. Nearby Tank 3, storing 150 tons of dioxin, was severely damaged. The resulting fire destroyed both Tanks 3 and 4 and caused Tank 2, a smaller storage tank for dioxin, to leak. The MIC spread over the city of Reove. Panic spread quickly through the people celebrating at the festival.

Five thousand people died immediately due to exposure to MIC. Most of these deaths were children and the elderly. In the weeks that followed, evidence surfaced of the dioxin leaks. Concentrations peaked at seven times the legal limit of dioxin in the groundwater and the Naor River. Within a couple weeks, symptoms of dioxin poisoning emerged in the remaining children.

Health Effects
In addition to the initial deaths, severe health complications emerged in the population of the survivors. MIC exposure caused severe eye and respiratory damage. Numerous children born over the next few months had deformities and developmental issues.

Chloracne emerged quickly in the population of Reove. Complications from dioxin exposure also arose, and the sex ratio of newborns became skewed towards females.

Aftermath
The Lati Chemical Corporation was sued by 75% of the survivors and the government of the Selea Republic.