The city of Abidjan of the Ivory Coast fell into turmoil as its coastlines were covered in sludge on the morning of September 28. The sludge has already killed eight people, hospitalized dozens, and sent more than 85,000 seeking medical attention, crippling the healthcare system of this “third world” country that is already suffering from the effects of civil war. The waste causes open sores all over victims bodies, burning their throats and sinuses and causing nausea.
The sludge can be dated back to June 2 from the ship Probo Koala, a Greek-owned tanker that was leased by the London branch of the Swiss trading company Trafigura, which has their fiscal headquarters located in the Netherlands. The ship was being cleaned in Amsterdam. The ship reported it had 250 tons of regular waste, which generally is laced with oil, caustic soda, gasoline and other chemicals. While being cleaned, the workers reported that there were at least 400 tons of waste and the stench made many of them sick. Some of the tests show that the ship was probably used as a floating oil refinery, containing sulfur, hydrogen peroxide and a volatile compound that smells of rotten eggs but in high doses paralyzes nervous systems.
“It is very lethal, and it acts very rapidly,” says chemist Lucas Reijinders, a professor at the University of Amsterdam. After the discovery of the waste, the ship was told it was going to cost at least $300,000 to dispose of the waste, and staying an extra day would have cost an extra $45,000 in port fees.
After refusing the fees, the tanker left for Nigeria to work with Russian oil supplies, and then from there it sailed to Abidjan where it arrived in late August.
The tanker was pumped at the port there, and the waste was dumped across the city and into the ocean. Some of the trucks delivering the material were abandoned by their drivers when they began to be attacked when word got out of the illegal dumping.
So far there have been 18 reported dump sites, but the government is expected to find more as the investigations deepens. Despite the initial sickness, there might be long-term effects to people that were exposed to the waste.
The Probo Koala, has been detained at the request of the Ivory Coast. Greenpeace has filed criminal complaints against Trafigura, Amsterdam and the Port Services.
“This is the underbelly of globalization,” said an activist at the Basel Action Network, which is an environmental group that fights toxic waste dumping. “Environmental regulations in the north have made disposing of waste expensive, so corporations look south.”