Meredith Alexander has quit her unpaid role over the Olympics controversial £7 million deal with the chemical giant.
The deal had which has infuriated human rights campaigners due to Dow’s links to Union Carbide, the company responsible for the Bhopal gas disaster in 1984.
As many as 15,000 people died and tens of thousands were maimed when poisonous gas leaked from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal in central India in 1984. It is one of the world’s worst industrial disasters.
Dow bought Union Carbide in 2001 and denies responsibility for Carbide’s Bhopal liabilities.
Alexander said: ”I don’t want to be party to a defence of Dow Chemicals.
“It is appalling that 27 years on, the site has still not been cleaned up and thousands upon thousands of people are still suffering.
“I believe people should be free to enjoy London 2012 without this toxic legacy on their conscience.”
Lord Sebastian Coe, the chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, had earlier defended the Dow Chemical deal.
He argued the company had no involvement with Bhopal at the time of the disaster or when the final compensation was agreed.
The commission, part-funded by Locog, was created in 2007 to oversee the sustainability standards of the Olympic delivery bodies, in line with the promise made by London during the bidding for 2012 that sustainability commitments would be monitored independently.
However, the commission’s remit does extend to human rights issues or questioning sponsorship arrangements.
