2006 Ivory Coast Toxic Waste Dump as Health Crisis

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The event under focus is the public health crisis caused by excessive waste disposal in Ivory Coast – a country in Western Africa formally known as Côte d’Ivoire. The causative event transpired on the night of 19-20 August 2006 (“A Toxic Legacy” 7). The primary actors involved in this disaster are Singapore trading company Trafigura and the communities of Ivory Coast with those living in its largest city Abidjan affected the most (Bratspies 418). The cause of the emergency was the dumping of five hundred thousand litres of toxic waste in the waters near Abidjan.

The main hazard citizens of Abidjan were exposed to was waste poisoning. At the time of the event it was not clear what had occurred, since the only indicator was the strong smell felt in the entire city (“A Toxic Legacy” 4). Even though the information was limited, the following days witnessed thousands of people seek medical attention in local healthcare organizations. Main complaints were “nausea, headaches, breathing difficulties, stinging eyes and burning skin” (“A Toxic Legacy” 4). The lack of toxicity data forced the government to slaughter livestock hoping to limit the spread of contamination (‘Toxic’ Pigs Cull in Ivory Coast). Meanwhile, Ivory Coast reached to United Nations and the international community to help with investigation and increased the number of healthcare facilities.

Now it is known that waste dumping caused air toxicity. The specific contaminants were “a mix of spent caustic (a sodium hydroxide solution) and coker naphtha (a high-sulphur, dirty by-product of crude oil refining)” (“A Toxic Legacy” 4-5). Exposure to chemicals had both short-term health effects, such as respiratory difficulties and long-term consequences, including bronchial hyperresponsiveness, digestive dysfunction, and increased cancer risk (“A Toxic Legacy” 5). Meanwhile, decontamination efforts aimed at cleaning dumpsites took nine years to complete (“A Toxic Legacy” 11). Subsequently, the health of Abidjan’s inhabitants was affected over a long term.

Although twelve years have passed since the waste dumping, no significant actions were taken to mitigate the crisis or prevent another excessive waste disposal. Most of the aftermath was political with most emphasis put on placing the responsibility on Trafigura. The most popular current explanation is that waste disposal was the intended purpose of Trafigura’s vessel presence in the port of Abidjan. The company itself acknowledges the fact of waste poisoning but denies its own involvement. In its 2009 statement, Trafigura placed the blame on another organization claiming that the purpose of its vessel was commercial and not related to waste disposal (Trafigura Statement). Furthermore, the company believes that local communities had already been exposed to toxic substances when the dumping occurred. As a result, aside from negative publicity, there were no real repercussions done to the company as it is still operating.

The primary lesson learned from the 2006 waste dumping is that the current regulatory framework and environmental control are inadequate. Not only do Ivory Coast citizens still suffer from that incident, but the threat of such an emergency being repeated has not decreased (“A Toxic Legacy” 19). The second lesson is that the international community is not as emphatic to disasters in the third world, as it is to the developed countries (Bratspies 467). Essentially, Trafigura took advantage of the civil war in Ivory Coast and disposed its waste with relative impunity aside from legal persecution that did not affect the company significantly.

Works Cited

“A Toxic Legacy. The Case for a Medical Study of the Long-term Health Impacts of the Trafigura Toxic Waste Dumping.”Amnesty International, 2018. Web.

Bratspies, Rebecca. “Corrupt at Its Core: How Law Failed the Victims of Waste Dumping in Côte d’Ivoire.” Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, vol. 43, 2018, pp. 417-473.

“’Toxic’ Pigs Cull in Ivory Coast.”BBC News, 2006. Web.

“Trafigura Statement.”BBC News, 2009. Web.

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