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the toxic truth
chapter 3
The waste arrives in Europe ““
We need support so that the truth is known. Put pressure on our state and the EU for its environmental overview and to bear responsibility. Africa must stop being the rubbish bin [for the West]. Rachel GOGOUA
”
President of the Association of the Victims of Akouédo Extension85
As noted in the preceding chapter, Trafigura was aware, before starting the caustic washing, that disposal of the waste would be difficult because there were very few facilities prepared or able to accept this kind of waste. This proved to be the case. During April 2006 Trafigura approached at least four locations in Europe seeking to offload the waste: Gibraltar, Italy, Malta and France.85 The first two locations – Gibraltar and Italy – did not have the facilities to dispose of the waste. A company in Gibraltar told Trafigura that the flashpoint of the slops appeared to be too low, meaning that the waste was too hazardous for them to treat.86 Malta Shipyards told the company:
““
Sorry, not even Malta Shipyards can accept these slops due to chemical content. 87
”
On 19 June 2006, Trafigura contacted Amsterdam Port Services (APS), a company that processed ships’ waste, and made an arrangement to deliver the waste to them. APS was an officially appointed port reception facility, which means it was authorized by the Dutch authorities to handle waste from ships in line with the 1973/78 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL Convention).88 However, it subsequently transpired that Trafigura had not given APS adequate information about nature of the waste. Although Trafigura has claimed that Naeem Ahmed, an employee of Trafigura Ltd in London, had described the origin and composition of the waste to APS in a telephone conversation,89 APS denied this.90 A Dutch court later stated that it did “not find Ahmed’s statement, that he had fully informed APS regarding the nature and origin of the slops, credible”.91 Prior to the arrival of the Probo Koala at Amsterdam, Naeem Ahmed sent an email to APS on 20 June describing the waste as “Gasoline Slops (Majority is Water, Gasoline, Caustic Soda).”92
Marine Waste Collection Netherlands (MAIN), formerly called Amsterdam Port Services (APS). © Zeeman Reclame Groep/Erwin Vader