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.

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!