The Ivory Coast Toxic Waste Dumping 18 th August 2006 Oran Hassan and Dai Nelsey

Contents  Introduction to the contamination problem  Possible solutions available  The method chosen for the clean up  What happened next?

Introduction  Probo Koala had to dispose of waste  Dutch company said NO!!!  Probo Koala went to Ivory Coast  Toxic waste offloaded and dumped illegally

The Problem  400 tonnes of Toxic ‘Dirty water’ dumped overnight in municipal waste sites  Noxious fumes including H 2 S  Contained organochlorides  Water supplies contaminated  Caused 10 deaths and illness to 100,000

Possible solutions  Chemical oxidation  Pump and treat  Excavation  Bioremediation  Soil washing

The clean up  6000 tonnes of soil excavated from 18 sites  Ex-situ treatment  Waste incinerated to break down toxic hydrocarbons  Heavy metals buried in cement  Lagoon required longer term clean up  Chemical residue would be treated over 5 months.

The Aftermath  Animals culled to prevent contamination of food chain  High court proceedings  Trafigura gave £100million towards clean up effort  UN said:  No dead fish found  Vegetation nearby unharmed

Summary  Toxic waste disposed of illegally  Contaminated land  Caused major health problems, some ongoing  Clean up job at great expense  Criticism of success of operation  Disregard for Basel convention