the toxic truth - Greenpeace

the toxic truth
No. HQ09X02050 between Trafigura
Limited v British Broadcast Corporation
served 20 November 2009. p15 (para
56), p27 (para 103) and Appendix
2 to the Reply: The group Litigation
Claimants, Case on the Composition of
the Slops.
18. Carter-Ruck Reply, in the High Court of
Justice Queen’s Bench Division, Claim
No. HQ09X02050 between Trafigura
Limited v British Broadcast Corporation
served 20 November 2009, p27.
19. Carter-Ruck Reply, in the High Court of
Justice Queen’s Bench Division, Claim
No. HQ09X02050 between Trafigura
Limited v British Broadcast Corporation
served 20 November 2009, p15.
20. From written testimony from one of the
truck drivers to Trafigura. Deposition
de XXX to Trafigura, 11 February, 2009,
English translation from para 58: “Je
n’ai pu remplir qu’une demi-citerne, soit
entre 10 et 15.000 litres. Le liquide était
alors très lourd – presque comme de la
boue liquide. C’était une sorte de boue
épaisse et rougeatre”.
21. In a meeting between A v Campen and
Greenpeace, on 18 November 2010.
22. Email from Paul Short to WAIBS Shipping,
copied to Puma Abidjan Ops, Jorge
Marrero, Athens Ops, Disbursements,
18 August 2006. Source: Republic of
Côte d’Ivoire, National Commission of
Enquiry on the toxic waste in the district
of Abidjan, 15 November 2006, French
version,p28 and 29 as well as the annexes
to that document.
23. “80 That morning, APS asserted that the
slops had a Chemical Oxygen Demand
(“COD” level of 500,000mg/l and,
therefore, disposal costs had escalated
considerably to Euro 1,000/m 3 – approximately
a 3000% increase.
81 In a telephone call on the morning of
3 July, Mr Wolf of APS also informed Mr
Ahmed of Trafigura that the slops had a
total organic chlorine (TOCl) level above
5% and a COD levels of approximately
20,000mg/l.
82 It is averred that:
82.1 the COD levels is a measure of the
amount of oxygen required to process
liquid slops and was irrelevant to the
classification of the slops as MARPOL
slops or otherwise.
82.8 the COD levels was markedly different
from that previously stated; and
82.3 the figure for TOCl in the slops was
incorrect.”
Trafigura Amended Defence 5 December
2008 (Yao Essaie Motto & Others v Trafigura
Limited and Trafigura Beheer BV in
the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench
Division, Claim No. HQ06X03370), paras
163 and 163.1.
24. For more details see a specific website:
www.spentcaustic.com/index.htm and
more specifically www.spentcaustic.com/
disposalalter.html. Spent caustic can be
used in making paper.
Source: www.amritcorp.com/abcpaper.
html ; section chemical recovery plant.
25. The MAIN VII is the APS barge that transported
part of the waste from the Probo
Koala to APS.
26. The NFI report calculated “the EOX
content (Extractable Organic Halogen
Compounds: Halogens: bromine, chlorine
and fluorine) of a mixed sample of samples
[1-SB-BM], [1-SM-CM] and [1-SB-TM]
(1.001 to 1.003) from the starboard
tank was determined microcoulometrically,
in conjunction with testing of APS’s
acceptance criteria.” NFI report p11.
A CIAPOL (Ivorian environmental
agency) sample taken from the dumpsite
Akouédo on 21 August 2006 two days after
the dumping took place does make a
reference to a finding of 250mg/l organo
chloride components. This is what it says
with regard to organic pollutants:
Organic chloride 250mg/l
Methodology: Mineralisation and alalysism
Chlorimetric method LD 2000
* Refuse regulation (SIIC): 5% (ie
>50g/l, or >50,000mg/l) would be suggestive
of a high proportion of a chlorinated
waste, not of minor or trace residues
of chlorinated materials compounds
being present as incidental contaminants.
The value reported by CIAPOL is
also high and would ordinarily indicate a
heavily contaminated waste with respect
to chlorinated organics, even though it
is a fraction only of the value suggested
by the >5%.
AVR, who analyzed samples taken
by APS when the Probo Koala was in
Amsterdam in July 2006, analyzed far
too few variables to be informative
from a toxicological perspective. There
is however a mention of total chlorine
content of 0.09% which could include
inorganic chlorine (ie chlorides from salt)
which is also a far lower level than the
value suggested by the >5%. Republic
of Côte d’Ivoire, National Commission of
Enquiry on the toxic waste in the district
of Abidjan, 15 November 2006, French
version, in the annexes the AVR analyses
are included dated 03-07-2006.
27. The report from Dr Geoffrey Bound of
Minton, Treharne & Davies Ltd dated 6
April 2010 states the ratio of the oil and
water fractions in the slops in Abidjan
(p5):
“2.6 In summary, I have concluded
that the slops onboard the Probo Koala
prior to its arrival in Abidjan comprised
183m 3 of hydrocarbons derived from
the Brownsville cargoes (weighing 137
mt) and 344.8m 3 of aqueous solution
(weighing 379 mt and representing
199m 3 of added caustic wash solution
combined with other water delivered with
223
ANNEX NotEs
the cargoes) as follows…”
It must be pointed out that Bound arrives
at a total amount of 527.3m 3 , whereas
there were still about 544m 3 in the slop
tanks in Amsterdam. Captain Chertov
states, in his “letter of protest” of 5 July
2006 that more than 16m 3 less was
returned to the Probo Koala than was
delivered to APS. We also refer to an
email message from Gampierakis (Falcon
Navigation) to Ahmed et al of 26 July
2006 stating that the captain found that
528.308m 3 of slops were on board at
that point (360.260m 3 in the port tank
and 168.048m 3 in the starboard tank).
This evidence is part of the files of the
Dutch public prosecutor.
28. Amnesty International and Greenpeace
are aware of certificates, with numbers
of the certificates ranging from 000101
to 000119, but several numbers are
missing (numbers 000109, 000110 and
000111).
29. This calculation is based on the combined
evidence of written statements
given to Trafigura by the drivers. A total
of nine drivers made statements to Trafigura
and signed them on 11 February,
2009. These were seven drivers, an
assistant of a driver who died in 2008
and a driver who died later in 2009.
30. “The three trucks set off together
but we didn’t arrive in Akouédo at the
same time. … When I arrived at the
weighbridge, it was at the dead of night.
People waved me on to the weighbridge;
I went on to it but I don’t think that my
truck was weighed. … As I waited, people
filled out forms and I had nothing to
do. XX then came up to me with a man
from the office and they pointed to a
place opposite and said ‘Go down there!’
I went in the direction indicated and,
where there is a big tyre splitting the
road, I turned left. I went down the road
a little further, turned round and parked
near to a small bridge crossing some
water. … The eleven compartments in my
tanks empty through two hatches at the
bottom and, when these hatches were
fully opened, the liquid squirted out with
a certain pressure behind it.” (Deposition
de XXX to Trafigura, 11 February, 2009,
English translation).
31. “I filled all the sections of my tank, left
the quay and went to Akouedo on the
motorways. Just before I left, there was
a rumor that there were problems with
some truck drivers and, with hindsight,
it is probable that it was XXX, who had
been arrested at the checkpoint in Riviera
Deux. ... They didn’t tell me where
I had to go so I went to exactly the same
place: to the left of the big tyre and near
the small bridge. The same smell was
there as at the Shell car park. I unloaded
by just opening the two hatches and the
liquid poured out over the bridge with a
certain pressure behind it.” (Deposition
de XXX to Trafigura, 11 February 2009,
English translation).