the toxic truth - Greenpeace

26 Amnesty internAtionAl And greenpeAce netherlAnds
Chapter 2
S 16
sulphur
32.065
However, for reasons that are not clear ,
Trafigura decided not to proceed with the
Merox process but instead to undertake
caustic washing. This is something the
company had been considering since at least
the end of 2005. An email between Trafigura
executives, dated 27 December 2005, stated:
“ We need to list locations that allow caustic
washing – if… hadn’t informed us we would [sic]
still wouldn’t know about it- as I don’t think we
have scratched the surface of caustic washing
42 yet. ”
Trafigura was well aware that this process
would produce toxic waste. This is clear
from the company’s internal emails, one of
which referred explicitly to the fact that, “US/
Singapore and European terminals no longer
allow the use of caustic soda washes since
local environmental agencies do not allow
disposal of the toxic caustic after treatment.” 43
“ US/Singapore and European terminals
no longer allow the use of caustic soda
washes since local environmental agencies
do not allow disposal of the toxic caustic after
treatment. ”
TraFIGUra
tHe significance of
sulpHur content: a cHeap
and dirty gasoline
One of the key factors in determining the price
of oil is its sulphur content, particularly for
gasoline or petrol used in cars. The sulphur
content of gasoline is regulated to protect the
environment and human health. Only very low
sulphur gasoline can be sold at the pump in
the EU and North America, though gas or petrol
with much higher sulphur content is often sold
in many developing countries. 46 Coker naphtha
contains far higher levels of sulphur than
conventional fuels. For example, gasoline or petrol and
gasoil/diesel sold in the EU has to have a sulphur content
below 10 parts per million (ppm). Coker naphtha can have
a sulphur content of several thousand ppm (1,000-3,000
is a range commonly reported).
In an internal email, dated 28 December
2005, sent to colleagues and Trafigura’s
chairman, Claude Dauphin, a London-based
employee noted that:
“ This operation [caustic washing] is no
longer allowed in EU/US and Singapore.
Caustic washes are banned by most countries
due to the hazardous nature of the waste
(mercaptans, phenols, smell) and suppliers of
caustic are unwilling to dispose of the waste
since there are not many facilities remaining in
the market. There is a company in rotterdam
that burns such waste in a high stack chimney
and charges are approx $200/kg and could
have upto [sic] 1000kgs of sludge after a
treatment operation. Under EU law you [are] no
longer allowed to transport such waste across
EU borders. ” 44
Despite Trafigura’s significant international
profile, it was able to identify only two
companies worldwide willing to undertake
the caustic washing process. According to an
email sent by Trafigura’s London office on 28
December 2005:
“ I have approached all our storage terminals
with the possibility of caustic washing and only
Vopak [at] Fujairah and Tankmed [at] La Skhirra
45
our [sic] willing to entertain the idea. ”
So, while senior Trafigura executives were
clear that they wanted to buy the coker
naphtha because of the substantial profit it
would bring, they were also aware right from
the start that it would be difficult, firstly to
find a facility to carry out the cheaper refining
process, and secondly to find a company to
dispose of the resulting waste.