Thursday, September 17, 2009

Crime Against Humanity by Trafigura

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/16/trafigura-african-pollution-disaster

The Guardian reports on how the UK oil company Trafigura knowingly dumped toxic pollution, killing a number of people and injuring tens of thousands more.

"How UK oil company Trafigura tried to cover up African pollution disaster"
• Trafigura offers payout to 31,000 victims of toxic dumping
• Secret email trail exposes truth behind £100m legal battle

"The Guardian can reveal evidence today of a massive cover-up by the British oil trader Trafigura, in one of the worst pollution disasters in recent history.

Internal emails show that Trafigura, which yesterday suddenly announced an offer to pay compensation to 31,000 west African victims, was fully aware that its waste dumped in Ivory Coast was so toxic that it was banned in Europe.

Thousands of west Africans besieged local hospitals in 2006, and a number died, after the dumping of hundreds of tonnes of highly toxic oil waste around the country's capital, Abidjan. Official local autopsy reports on 12 alleged victims appeared to show fatal levels of the poisonous gas hydrogen sulphide, one of the waste's lethal byproducts..."

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