On Wednesday Dutch oil trading company Trafigura agreed to pay compensation to 31,000 people who became ill after toxic waste from the cargo ship Probo Koala was dumped in Ivory Coast. Working with UK media, environmental group Greenpeace then revealed that it had obtained internal e-mails showing that Trafigura boss Claude Dauphin was aware of both the dumping and the risks involved. Today the UN special rapporteur on the case said his investigations confirmed the toxic slurry caused illness and death in Ivory Coast. Trafigura continues to deny everything.

UK broadsheet the Guardian published the Trafigura internal e-mail messages on its website today.
Marietta Harjono of Greenpeace told Radio Netherlands:

“The e-mails make clear that Claude Dauphin as well as some of the employees of Trafigura knew from the beginning, eight months before the actual dump happened, that the waste they would produce on the Probo Koala would be very toxic. They also knew that because of the toxicity of the waste, this experimental process was no longer allowed on land. They also knew that it was not allowed to export this hazardous waste from Europe to Africa.”
 

Listen to the Newsline interview with Greenpeace toxic campaigner Marietta Harjano:

In a response, Trafigura denies that the e-mails are incriminating:

“The allegations concerning emails are based on a wholly selective interpretation of a small number of individual emails, taken out of context and which contain a good deal of "trader speak" which cannot be taken literally. More importantly, however, on a proper analysis of all the material and of what in fact happened, it is clear that the responsible individuals at Trafigura sought at all times to ensure that the slops were disposed of lawfully.

Greenpeace Netherlands’ unfounded accusations are utterly rejected by Trafigura. It is deeply regrettable that Greenpeace has chosen to make a number of serious and unfounded remarks, without any regard to the available scientific evidence or to statements made by Trafigura based on detailed analysis by independent experts.”

Black sludge
The toxic slops dumped in Ivory coast were produced when Trafigura refined a cargo of cheap naphtha, a kind of petroleum, in the tanks of the Probo Koala using a process known as ‘caustic washing’ to produce saleable petrol. The company had agreed with Amsterdam port authorities that they would take in the Probo Koala tanker and treat the waste left by the caustic washing process. However, it turned out to be far more toxic than the authorities expected, and they proposed to charge Trafigura 20 times more than the sum agreed. The Probo Koala then sailed to Ivory Coast in West Africa and disposed of the cargo there.

The company Tommy in Abidjan, the capital of Côte d'Ivoire, agreed to process the waste. Once the chemical waste had been delivered, however, the the company illegally dumped it on open rubbish tips, in sewers and lagoons all over Abidjan. The fumes and leakages from the black sludge caused hundreds of thousands of Ivorians to become ill, and in the end at least 15 people died.

Human rights violations
Trafigura says the Probo Koala sailed to Ivory coast on routine business, not merely to dump the waste, which only made up part of its cargo. In a statement on its website, the company says it “has always maintained that the Probo Koala’s slops could not possibly have caused deaths and serious or long term injuries,” and “any suggestion that the vessel was sent to West Africa solely for the purpose of offloading its slops is entirely inaccurate.”

However, the United Nations special rapporteur on the case, Okechukwu Ibeanu, released a report today concluding that there is strong evidence to show the incident resulted in human rights violations. He said that although Trafigura claimed the deaths and illnesses in Abidjan could not have been caused by the toxic waste, it was "not a coincidence that thousands of people have been ill after the dumping". His report says people were exposed to the toxic slurry directly through skin contact, and indirectly through ground and surface water, and crops grown in contaminated soil.

Settlement
In 2007 Trafigura paid 150 million euros in compensation to Ivory Coast in connection with the incident. And on Wednesday, in an out-of-court settlement of a class action brought in London, Trafigura agreed to compensate 31,000 local Abidjan residents who became ill. However, the company denies that the payments represent any admission of guilt.

Last year the Dutch public prosecutor's office decided not to prosecute Trafigura chief Claude Dauphin. Greenpeace has now lodged a formal complaint against the office in an attempt to have a fresh case opened on the basis of fresh evidence. Greenpeace says that while compensation may be a good thing for the recipients, justice will be served only by prosecution. The organisation's call has been backed by the Dutch Labour Party, the junior partner in the ruling coalition.