Global Sludge Ends in Tragedy for Ivory Coast

[uppityperson]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/02/world/africa/02ivory.html?ex=1160452800&en=3c90459551308d25&ei=5070&emc=eta1

It was his infant son’s cries, gasping and insistent, that first woke Salif Oudrawogol one night last month. The smell hit him moments later, wafting into the family’s hut, a noxious mélange reminiscent of rotten eggs, garlic and petroleum. Six-month-old Salam Oudrawogol of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, has been covered with sores since he was exposed to toxic waste in August.

Mr. Oudrawogol went outside to investigate. Beside the family’s compound, near his manioc and corn fields, he saw a stinking slick of black sludge. “The smell was so bad we were afraid,” Mr. Oudrawogol said. “It burned our noses and eyes.”

Over the next few days, the skin of his 6-month-old son, Salam, bloomed with blisters, which burst into weeping sores all over his body. The whole family suffered headaches, nosebleeds and stomach aches.

How that slick, a highly toxic cocktail of petrochemical waste and caustic soda, ended up in Mr. Oudrawogol’s backyard in a suburb north of Abidjan is a dark tale of globalization. It came from a Greek-owned tanker flying a Panamanian flag and leased by the London branch of a Swiss trading corporation whose fiscal headquarters are in the Netherlands. Safe disposal in Europe would have cost about $300,000, or perhaps twice that, counting the cost of delays. But because of decisions and actions made not only here but also in Europe, it was dumped on the doorstep of some of the world’s poorest people....(much more@link)

Previous report said (per BBC @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5380296.stm0

Ivory Coast waste 'was not toxic'

The company that discharged 500 tonnes of waste in Ivory Coast has denied that the product was toxic.

The Netherlands-based company, Trafigura, said independent analysis showed the chemical sludge met international safety standards.

Seven people died and 40,000 were treated in hospital for nausea, breathing problems and nosebleeds....

[ellenfl]

1. globalization (and corporatism) at its best. so maddening. eom

[uppityperson]

2. 18 dump sites found so far. NIMBY

[Greyhound]

3. I know this story isn't as sexy as a pedophile congressman, but it

deserves attention. So few of the sheeple have the slightest idea how badly we fuck up the rest of the world so we can be good little consumers and throw everything away.

"Oh well, a few more brown people are dead and thousands sickened, probably facing a lifetime of 'mysterious illness', no big deal". We make me sick. :puke:

:kick: & R

[glitch]

7. There are no swear words harsh enough for these "people". nt

[shanti]

17. amen brother!

the poor people and the brown people have always been getting the shaft. :cry: india comes to mind too, with their water situation and coca cola.

the corporate boot is always on their necks. it's only a matter of time...

[uppityperson]

4. kick for the children

[juajen]

5. K & R

Though I don't know if many will pay attention when competition is sexy live boys.

[uppityperson]

10. here is a sexy live boy (?)

Six-month-old Salam Oudrawogol of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, has been covered with sores since he was exposed to toxic waste in August

[Canuckistanian]

6. This was a floating garbage can

Filled with multiple dumpings of waste chemicals, mostly from petrochemical operations, they started dumping this noxious and poisonous mixture into a country where the executives knew there would be no environmental laws to stop them.

I hope they execute the company executives for pre-meditated murder.

[rocktivity]

8. Not toxic? So what?

What is that supposed to mean? A substance doesn't have to be "toxic" to be harmful, or even lethal. Take water, for instance--as non-toxic as you can get, but under the right circumstances, it can CERTAINLY kill you.

:headbang:
rocknation

[uppityperson]

9. if this isn't toxic, why hazmat suits?

[Jcrowley]

11. You show me oil

and I'll show you greed, destruction, war and pollution.

Suffer the children.

K&R

[GiveUsHope]

12. I applaud the NYT for reporting this

I didn't think such a corporate-entrenched newsie would go at this like the NYT did. They deserve some credit here.

[Toucano]

13. OMFG! n/t

[Doremus]

14. Gee, but what's good for corporations is good for people, isn't it?

I mean, corporations wouldn't do anything to intentionally hurt us ... would they?

:sarcasm:


I hope they find the vermin responsible for this and suspend them in a pool of "non-toxic" sludge.

[uppityperson]

20. "it only became toxic when they used it" bs bs bs bs bs bs bs bs bs

[semillama]

23. but market forces would take care of this if weren't for regulation!

or so goeth the Libertarian argument for how environmental issues would be dealt with in a libertarian society.

Face it, this is exactly the sort of thing that puts the lie to the "extreme free market cures all" folks. This is exactly the type of thing that demonstrates why in certain areas, MORE regulation is needed. Leaving it to the market will result in more incidents like this, not less.

[AlecBGreen]

15. globalization at its worst

"It came from a Greek-owned tanker flying a Panamanian flag and leased by the London branch of a Swiss trading corporation whose fiscal headquarters are in the Netherlands."

:crazy:

[Gemini Cat]

16. Exactly!

I had to read it three times before I understood it.
Damn.

[shanti]

18. so they can't pin it on anyone in particular...

nice. :(

[sandnsea]

19. 24 hour news

and we don't know anything that's going on in the world. This is so sad. :cry:

[gulfcoastliberal]

21. Thise Swiss love to fuck up the environment...

Their own little country is already deforested and polluted. You'd think with all that Nazi loot they could afford to treat their own toxic waste. Disgusting.

[uppityperson]

24. one problem is there are 6 different nations involved.

Where it started, who added to it, where it went, etc etc etc etc

[ConcernedCanuk]

22. K&R

.
.
.

[CHIMO]

25. IVORY COAST SCIENTIST

It was a tragedy breathtaking in its devasation. After the tanker Probo Koala dumped waste at several sites around Abijan, in the Ivory Coast, eight people died and more than 80,000 were sent to hospital.

Currently there a series of inquiries in the Ivory Coast and in Europe to determine the origin of the waste. Lucas Reijnders has looked at two samples from the Probo Koala. He is a chemist and professor of environmental science at the University of Amsterdam. We reached him at his office at the university.

http://cbc.ca/asithappens/media/dailyshow/2006-10-03-aih1.ram

Go to 1:32 in the program.

It appears from this interview that the ship was taking low quality oil and processing it on the ship during its travel. Then dumping the nasties and probably then getting more money for the commodity.

http://www.cbc.ca/aih/latestshow.html

[GoddessOfGuinness]

26. Terrorism has many faces.

Who speaks for the victims of this terrorist act?