The purpose of this briefing is to share with the public and the
mediaour current knowledge of what occurred in the recent case of
toxicwaste dumping in the Ivory Coast.
Local authorities report that 6 people have died and close to
9000people have sought treatment since the toxic wastes were dumped
onopen-air sites around Abidjan. Symptoms reported including
respiratoryproblems, nausea, dizziness, vomiting (including
throwing up blood),burns and irritation from the foul smelling
waste. Currently we awaitthe health and environmental reports from
experts on the ground in theIvory Coast to provide greater
information on the scope of the crisis:a mission from the World
Health Organisation (WHO), from the UnitedNations Disaster
Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC), and from France.
Toxic wastes
The wastes disposed of around the city of Abidjan are liquid
sludgecontaining large quantities of hydrocarbons, contaminated
with at leastthree substances: hydrogen sulphide, mercaptans and
caustic soda (source: CIAPOL - Center for Anti-Pollution Control in
the Ivory Coast).
Both hydrogen sulphide and mercaptans are toxic chemicals.
Hydrogensulphide is a gas which smells strongly of 'rotten eggs'
and is apotent poison of the respiratory system. Exposure to high
levels in airin a confined space can lead rapidly to loss of
consciousness,respiratory failure and death, though in the open air
it may beexpected to be dispersed before reaching such lethal
concentrations.Mercaptans are highly volatile and very strongly
smelling chemicals(with a smell like garlic or rotting cabbages)
which cause irritationto the eyes and respiratory system and can
cause rapid onset of nausea.There is one reported case of a worker
exposed to very highconcentrations of methyl mercaptan in a
confined space developinganaemia, going into a coma and dying.
However, as mercaptans produce ahighly offensive smell even at low
(part per billion) concentrations inair and water and cause strong
feelings of nausea and irritation atlevels slightly above this,
exposure to lethal concentrations is likelyto be very rare.
If people have been exposed to high levels of hydrogen sulphide
andmercaptans in the air as a result of the dumping operation,
thensymptoms such as nausea and respiratory problems could
certainly beexpected. However, with the very limited information
available to date,it is not possible to confirm a direct link with
cases in which peoplehave been hospitalised with diarrhea or other
symptoms, or with thereported deaths. Further investigations of the
nature of the wastes,the extent of contamination of air, water and
soils and of theunderlying causes of the more serious illnesses and
deaths are clearlyurgently required.
The Investigation
On 19 August a Panamanian flagged ship, the Probo Koala,
unloaded atoxic waste shipment in Abidjan, the main economic
capitol of the IvoryCoast. However it was not until the first week
of September when theIvorian Ministry of Health announced an
extraordinary meeting that ledto the dismissal of its government on
6 September, that the incidentbegan to draw international
attention. (The Ivory government is in theprocess of rebuilding and
recovery after years of civil war and afragile government had been
established under the supervision of ONUCI,the United Nations peace
process in the Ivory Coast).
As international and/or local environmental laws may have been
broken,Greenpeace calls for a transparent and thorough
investigation by therespective international and local authorities.
The facts behind thegreat suffering endured by the Ivory Coast
through this deadly tragedyremain obscured by the vessel charterer,
Trafigura. We base thisconclusion on our research of the movements
of the Probo Koala inEurope and in Africa, of an unclear
association between Trafigura (theinternational petroleum trader
who chartered the ship) and the Ivorianwaste handling firm Societe
Tommy, and of actions taken by the Dutchauthorities while the ship
was in the Netherlands. Greenpeace continuesto investigate the
chain of events leading to this irresponsible act,but the lack of
transparency in the shipping industry as a whole, andspecifically
from Trafigura and various European port authorities, hasgrossly
delayed the rights of the Ivorian public to know the facts ofthis
tragedy. Official investigations on the national and
internationallevels are urgently called for to establish
liabilities, to indicatewhere nations are failing to uphold their
international commitments andto make sure this deadly type of
export never happens again.
What we know is that on several weeks before arriving in the
IvoryCoast, MV Probo Koala attempted on 02 July to discharge toxic
waste inthe port of Amsterdam. Remarking on the strong smell of the
waste, theAmsterdam Port Service realised that the waste was of an
unusuallytoxic character. When informed that there would be an
additionalexpense for treating the waste, the Probo Koala chose to
look for aless costly option. Members of the Parliament of the
Netherlands and aninvestigation by the public prosecutor are
questioning why authoritiesallowed the ship to sail away with a
toxic waste in its hold. A juniorminister of the Dutch Ministry of
the Environment has told an inquiryat the country's Parliament that
he had did not have legal means tostop the ship leaving the
Netherlands. The M|V Probo Koala, decidingagainst paying costs for
waste treatment , on account of the conditions(financial) requested
by the Dutch waste management company, then leftfor Estonia.
What was the route, the cargos and the slop generated by the
ProboKoala between June 2006 and 19 August? Where was the ship
before itreached Amsterdam? It is unclear what ports the Probo
Koala visited andwhat cargos were loaded/discharged (including what
slop was generatedand/or discharged) before Abidjan. According to
some sources, the ProboKoala stopped in the Spain at the port of
Algeciras. Other reports saythat the ship navigated the length of
the coast of Africa looking for aport, possibly Senegal or by some
accounts Nigeria. A company statementstates that the waste disposed
of in the Ivory Coast was from tankwashings. After emptying its
wastes and despite the beginning of alocal investigation, the Probo
Koala was permitted to sail from theautonomous port of Abidjan
towards Estonia.
One question is whether the wastes were entirely generated via
on boardoperations. In a statement to the press the charterer
Trafigura statesthat the caustic nature of the waste was from use
of caustic soda as adetergent for tank washings. However given the
rarity of using causticsoda to wash tanks that carry refined
petroleum products, it is notunreasonable to consider that the
waste could come from land basedsources.
Ascertaining Responsibility
An investigation will require determining the type of wastes
involvedwhich will then identify the applicable international legal
framework.Two types of international legal frameworks may be
involved: the MARPOLlegislation (UN International Maritime
Organization) regulating wastefrom onboard operations on ships, and
the Basel Convention togetherwith the Basel Ban (UNEP) that
regulates the generation, trade anddisposal of hazardous wastes.
Under the Basel Ban, implemented intolegally binding EU law,
exports of hazardous wastes from the EU tonon-OECD countries is
prohibited.
Under the Basel Convention and its ban the responsibilities for
thedumping of wastes in Abidjan will be tied to the generator of
thehazardous wastes; the exporter of the wastes (charterer
Trafigura) orto the country of export.
The EU has ratified and implemented the Basel convention.
therefore, ifthe wastes in question are Basel convention wastes,
the EU countriesvisited by the Probo Koala: the Netherlands, Spain
or Estonia, could beliable to take the waste back if they were a
country of export. Dutchauthorities clearly had concerns about the
waste on the ship. UnderBasel they would have been obligated to
prevent the ship from leavingthe country with the waste on board.
Any association between Trafiguraand the waste handler, Societe
Tommy, need to be investigated so thatthe international firm cannot
pass blame onto a small local waste firm.While it is obvious that
the crisis could not have happened without theinvolvement of public
authorities and private interests on the Ivorianlevel, the company
Trafigura clearly should be at the centre of aninvestigation into
any attempt to take advantage of legal grey areasand
non-transparent maritime regulations. Further, the
responsibilitiesof European governments to allow the toxic waste to
leave Europe needsto be taken into account. Any breach of
international law must be fullyinvestigated.
Notes on the Companies involved
The MV Probo Koala, operates under the Panamanian flag. Its
registeredowner is "Celtic Legend Shipping Inc." of Norway. While
the "beneficialowner" (and manager and operator) is Prime Marine
Management, ofAthens, Greece. The Probo Koala was chartered by
Trafigura, LTD asubsidiary of the NL trading company Trafigura
Beheer BV (the parentcompany of the 55 trading companies operated
by Trafigura). ProboKoala's agent in Abidjan is WAIB-CL, and there
was an intermediatecompany, between Trafigura LTD and WAIB-CL,
called "SocieteTommy".Tommy was the entity that actually "disposed"
of the 100's of metrictonnes of toxic waste throughout and around
the city of Abidjan. Therole of Puma Energy (100% owned by
Trafigura based in Amstelveen, NLand controlled from Trafigura's
Lucerne, Switzerland offices) remainsunclear, as does its
association with the company, "Tommy" and WAIB-CL,though the
Ivorian authorities have arrested those directing each ofWAIB-CL,
Tommy and Puma Energy. Puma Energy has a local office inAbidjan,
Cote d'Ivoire.
African Regional Policy And Law Regarding Hazardous Waste
Imports
A significant impetus for the drafting of the Basel convention
was thedumping of hazardous wastes in Africa during the 1980s, due
toincreasing costs associated with environmental and health
protectionrequirements in developed countries.
The Basel Ban was initiated by the African group within the
Baselconvention context. Prior to that, Africa took leadership on
the issueof transboundary movements of hazardous waste by adopting
decisionsunder the auspices of the organization of African unity
(OAU) declaringthat all hazardous waste exports to Africa are
banned. These OAUdecisions were subsequently transformed in 1990
into an African treatycalled the Bamako Convention that bans all
hazardous waste for anypurpose from being exported to Africa, and
bans ocean dumping of suchwastes. Africa has been and continues to
stand united in its positionprohibiting all hazardous waste from
being exported to Africa. IvoryCoast has been a champion of this
position. The EU is well aware ofthis highly public African
position and needs to exercise its EUresponsibility; beginning with
ensuring the containment of the wastesfrom the biosphere, and
launching a full investigation of the case.