Dutch firm pays Ivory Coast $197 million to settle toxic waste case – International Herald Tribune
Trafigura then looked to Africa, where it found a local company in Ivory Coast called Tommy that agreed to dispose of the waste for roughly the original price [$15,500]. Trafigura said Tommy had proper government papers for the disposal. What it did not have, however, were the facilities.
Ivorian officials and witnesses say more than a dozen trucks contracted by Tommy simply poured 528 tons of the waste at 17 public sites around Abidjan after midnight Aug. 19.
Trafigura says the waste it offloaded was routine material derived from washing its oil tanks, including caustic soda, used as a cleaning agent, and petrochemical residues.
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