the toxic truth - Greenpeace

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the toxic truth Nevertheless, the knowledge that we have regarding the composition of the waste indicates the following when estimating the potential effects on the environment: » Given how strongly alkaline the waste was, there would be a considerable risk to both people and wildlife in the immediate vicinity if either had any direct contact with it. » Rainfall or contact with surface water could result in further dispersion of the waste, creating a significant risk downstream of the initial location as the highly alkaline mixture migrated. Contact with and/or consumption of water substantially contaminated with the waste could have serious consequences for humans or wildlife. plateau doKui abobo Cleaning truck at Lavage Coco Service 37 Cleaning truck at Lavage Coco Service Cleaning truck at lavage Gros Trou 33 33,000 UTD garage 41 Cleaning truck Gros Trou a Abobo 42 (2.3?) Cleaning truck at lavage à Abobo Banco Cleaning truck at une station de lavage à Youpagon Cleaning truck at lavage near roundabout of d’Abobo Banco Anador Cleaning truck at Banco Lavage Cleaning truck at d’Abobo Lavage 33,000 litres » Knowledge about the composition of the waste gained from the NFI analysis implies that perhaps the most relevant impacts on the environment would be of an acute rather than chronic nature, arising from the highly alkaline nature of the waste and high levels of mercaptans or phenols released if there had been a significant decrease of the pH levels, even if only in a proportion of the waste. NoTes To THe Table: » This table is developed mainly based on the written statements of the nine truck drivers to Trafigura in 2009 (11 February 2009) and also on the written statements of five drivers and of one assistant driver to Greenpeace in 2010 (several dates). » Under each driver it is stated how many loadings/discharges the driver carried out (between one and four discharges) » After each amount of waste dumped it is stated to which locations the waste was taken. This is based on the drivers’ description of the dumping places. Where this corresponds with locations marked on the UNOSAT map, this is noted. However uncertainties are also noted. » This table also shows whenever the information was available, where the truck drivers washed their tanks. It is possible that the locations of where the contaminated cleaning water was dumped were identified by several institutions as dumping or impact points. » All the truck drivers that transported the Probo Koala waste (except driver 5 and driver 7 who died in 2008 and 2009 respectively) are members of the organization Stop Chauffeur en Danger (SCD). » Note that the total figure for waste dumped according to the written statements of the nine truck drivers given to Trafigura from February 2009, and summarized in the table, indicate that possibly more waste was dumped: between 555 cbm and 572 cbm. This is higher than the figure of 528 cbm that has been generally adopted. 51 The difference might be explained by one or a combination of the following reasons: (a) The drivers gave an estimation of how full their trucks were loaded: as these are estimations, they may not necessarily precisely reflect the reality. (b) The Probo Koala had left the port of Amsterdam with 544 cbm on board (and 16 cbm had not been left behind as has generally been assumed). 213 ANNEX I

214 Amnesty internAtionAl And greenpeAce netherlAnds ANNEX I chemical oxygen demand COD is Chemical Oxygen Demand. This is essentially a measure of the maximum amount of oxygen that would be consumed in aqueous solution if all the oxidizable chemical (and biochemical) materials in a sample were completely oxidized. It involves a very aggressive process of chemical oxidation (ie using strong oxidizing agents) and therefore should always be taken as a maximum rather than a direct indication of how much oxygen would be consumed from water in contact with the waste. In practice, it is likely that only a proportion of the material would be oxidized (though what proportion depends on too many different factors to be able to estimate). Nonetheless, COD is used as a sound measure of the relative potential for a waste to deplete or even remove oxygen from water, and a very high COD is a major cause for concern (given that each liter of well aerated fresh water contains only around 8-10mg of oxygen), even if the maximum potential is never realized in practice. What a COD figure of 720,000mg/l indicates is essentially that, if all the material in just 1kg of the waste were to be completely oxidized, it could consume all the oxygen from around 80-100m 3 (80-100,000 litres) of well aerated water. Even a small fraction of that could clearly have substantial and long-lasting impacts on aquatic life downstream from the waste, as few aquatic species can survive under very low oxygen conditions. It is this potential for depletion of oxygen and its knock-on effects that explain the concern about very high COD. Remarkably high CoD level reason for environmental concern The waste dumped in Abidjan had a very high COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand). NFI measured it at 720,000mg/l, while BMA reported a measure of almost 500,000 to Falcon Navigation. 54 This value, even for spent caustic, does seem extremely, even unusually high – such wastes are commonly reported to have CODs of around 30-50,000mg/l, and only very occasionally up to 400,000mg/l or 500,000mg/l. Compounds like sulphur, phenols and hydrocarbon residues are generally responsible for the high COD in this type of waste. Impact of the waste on health UNDAC (United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination), which carried out a mission to Abidjan between 11 and 19 September, reported that “evaporation of volatile substances would likely have occurred in the direct aftermath of the dumping, resulting in serious or even life-threatening concentrations”, and that “it is believed that three weeks after the dumping the concentrations of the concerned compounds in the air are low and no further adverse health effects are to be expected”. UNDAC further noted that “the chemicals, especially mercaptans, have strong smells at low concentrations. The smell is already detectable by the human nose at concentration far below danger levels and that this may give a false impression of toxicity”. Nonetheless, mercaptans, having strong smells even at low concentrations, can cause anxiety and/or feelings of nausea. UNDAC also noted that the technical experts made a contribution to “reducing the tension caused by the lack of objective and comprehensible information”. 55 There is, however, a general underlying lack of data on the variables prevailing at the time of the dumping, including the rates of release of hazardous chemicals in the many different dumping sites. It was certainly the case that there was a lack of information and that this inevitably would increase anxieties. While anxiety can exacerbate suffering, any suggestion that the physical symptoms experienced by tens of thousands of people were due to anxiety rather than the effect of chemicals is not credible. A toxicologist consulted by Amnesty International and Greenpeace 56 confirmed that many factors might have altered exposure to chemicals and their impact on people living or working near the site. These factors include:

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