Yesterday 141 sealed containers filled with toxic waste arrived in France to be “disposed of” in a town south east of Lyon. It will be incinerated, so try not to breath if you live around there.
Where did this waste come from? In August, you might remember in the news, people in the Ivory Coast died because hazardous waste material was illegally dumped in and around the town of Abidjan. Many were subjected to an incredible stench, some died and some were hospitalized.
The poisonous stench came from a mix of petrochemical waste transported by a Panamanian-registered tanker chartered by the Dutch firm Trafigura. The pitch-black sludge found its way from Amsterdam — via Estonia and Nigeria — to Ivory Coast aboard the Korean-built and Greek-managed Probo Koala.
And it was later illegally dumped, in the dead of night, by a local company called Tommy at open-air sites all over Abidjan — right in the yards of residents… (from NPR)
Cutting to the chase here, this is a scandal trying to be covered up, and although the toxic sludge sounds like it originated from Holland, it has ended up in France. Why didn’t it go back to Holland, and disposed of there? How safe from toxicity are the residents of France?
The Dutch company insists it did tests on the material in Holland and that it wasn’t toxic. The company lied, obviously.
Back to France. I have to interject here that whenever we’re on the highway in the south of France, particularly in Provence, we inevitably see trucks and trucks transporting toxic waste. You can tell because of the stickers indicating toxic material on the truck and also the cargo is usually farther distanced from the driver. I wonder how safe are other drivers near this toxic cargo on the highways.
Why is there seemingly tons of toxic and nuclear waste firstly going to Africa, and if found, then moving to the south of France? I really worry about this and wonder how much toxic waste from other countries are ending up in Africa and France.
[Ivory Coast Tragedy Exposes Toxic Flow to Poor, Ivory Coast Toxic Waste Arrives in France for Incineration]
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France, as you probably know, has a paternal relationship with Ivory Coast, its “lost son,” among the former colonies.
It also has a bunch of large environmental services firms, with strong ties to the government.
When Ivory Coast had this toxic waste problem, French army personnel, stationed in Abidjan, were the early-responders, and enviro services firm Tredi was quickly hired by the powers-that-be (as incompetent as they are down there) to clean up the mess.
Now, why did the waste come back to France? Ivory Coast obviously doesn’t have facilities to treat it, whereas several European countries, including France, do.
There was a lot of noise, coming from the UN, among others, to get this cleaned up, and everyone knows that business is business.
Which means that Tredi knew somone was going to get paid for treating the waste, and figured it may as well be them. So the former govt officials who run the company talked to their buddies among current govt. officials, and got permission to import the waste to Europe.
(By the by, the site where the waste will be treated is a high-tech, closed-cycle and no-emission facility, so the only real enviro risks in the operation are during transport.)
How did the (ostensibly European) waste end up in Ivory Coast? Well, there’s a good question! More of our waste gets exported and dumped on the developing world than can be imagined…
This sordid affair seems to start in the Netherlands, when the boat was allowed to sail for Africa with holds full of stinking toxic waste…that eventually had to be dumped somewhere, but it is actually not entirely certain where the waste really “comes from,” as the ship was transporting oil across the 7 Seas, and maybe even serving as a floating refinery, according to some rumors, so “ownerhsip” of the problem is tricky to assign…
Which is also why France stepped in – mgmt of the Dutch-based company behind this mess is … French!
Comment by enviroexpert 11.17.06 @ 9:32 amIf you’re trying to help uncover the truth about this scandal then better get your facts right – the deaths were all in Cote D’Ivoire – no-one was even slightly sick in Holland! And I’ve not heard any suggestion that there’s nuclear waste involved.
I agree though that “this is a scandal trying to be covered up” and just wonder how deep is the scandal? All the figures in the news show that the amount of stuff that came from Holland is tiny compared to the amount that’s been removed and taken to France. And there’s not a lot of history of France helping Cote D’Ivoire out of the kindness of its heart… Am I being cynical to ask if it could be in some way connected to the fact that Total operates the refinery in Abidjan? Is this illegal dumping problem bigger than we’ve been led to believe and have more companies been doing it? And, if so, are some people going to get away unpunished while the authorities only check up on one lot of waste? This whole thing stinks – of corruption as well as toxic gases.
Comment by phlunkier 11.21.06 @ 9:43 amoops i misinterpreted the paragraph from the npr article. updated!
Comment by ptinfrance 11.21.06 @ 10:09 amLeave a comment
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