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the toxic truth
chapter 9
Discovering the mistake yet still failing to act The failure of the Dutch authorities did not end with the release of the Probo Koala on 5 July 2006. Following the departure of the ship, police officers continued to investigate the issue. The police contacted Greek-based Falcon Navigation, the company which managed day-to-day operations of the the Probo Koala for Trafigura, who told the Dutch investigating officers that it was not tank washings that had taken place, but rather washing of coker naphtha on board using caustic soda.531
The Dutch police then contacted a Londonbased Trafigura executive, Naeem Ahmed, on 15 August. During the call, a Dutch police officer obtained confirmation that the waste on board the Probo Koala had been generated by a caustic washing process and was therefore not the “tank washings” that Trafigura had previously declared in Amsterdam.532 In addition, the Dutch police officer told Naeem Ahmed that Trafigura needed to ensure that the waste was not discharged as MARPOL slops but as chemical slops. At this point the Probo Koala was in Nigeria, making another attempt to dispose of the waste, and the tragedy of Abidjan was yet to occur. The Dutch police now had further reason to be seriously concerned: they knew how the waste had been produced; they clearly knew that it was not MARPOL waste and was hazardous; and they knew the waste was now in Africa. Moreover, more than one month after the Probo Koala had tried to discharge the material at Amsterdam, there was still no confirmed destination for the waste, and they knew, or should have known, that they were dealing with the transboundary movement of hazardous waste, which is subject to international law. This additional knowledge should have triggered the involvement of the relevant authorities and, in line with the Basel Convention and the ICESCR, action should have been taken to establish where the waste was to be delivered and to contact the Nigerian authorities. The Dutch police should also have told Trafigura that disposal in an African country was unlawful and have demanded that the waste be returned to the Netherlands for proper processing. However, none of this was done. The matter, which should have been dealt with at state level, instead remained at the level of contact between the police and the company. The police officer, speaking about his actions said:
Top right: Pieter van Geel, state secretary of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment. © ANP/EVERT-JAN DANIELS Bottom right: Hans Gerson, director of the port of Amsterdam. © ANP/DIJKSTRA BV