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Million-dollar fine for Trafigura in 2006 Ivory Coast waste dump

Jul 23, 2010, 14:58 GMT

The lawyers who were defending oil trading firm Trafigura (L-R) Marike Bakker (lawyer of Naeem A. of Trafigura), Aldo Verbruggen, R. de Bree and M. Wladimiroff are seen in the court of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 01 June 2010. EPA/MARCEL ANTONISSE

Amsterdam - A Dutch court on Friday slapped a 1-million-euro (1.3-million-dollar) fine on an oil-trading company linked to a toxic waste scandal that is believed to have caused 17 deaths and a slew of health problems in the Ivory Coast four years ago.

Trafigura arranged for toxic waste to be transported to the West African country, thereby violating an international ban, the court ruled. Tons of liquid chemical waste were later dumped in the port city of Abidjan by the disposal company hired by Trafigura.

The multinational company, which has offices in the Netherlands, Britain and Switzerland, said it would appeal the verdict.

Trafigura had agreed in February 2007 to pay 150 million euros to those affected as part of an out-of-court settlement, but rejected any responsibility and liability for the incident.

Prosecutors in Amsterdam had asked for the company to be fined 2 million euros.

A Trafigura chemist was also given a six-month suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay 25,000 euros for deceiving authorities at the port of Amsterdam about the contents of the shipment at the time.

The captain of the ship Probo Koala, which brought the toxic waste to Africa, was given a five-month suspended sentence.

Prosecutors had sought one-year and four-months non-suspended prison terms for the chemist and captain, respectively.

The case's main defendant, a Nigerian official from the local disposal company, had been sentenced to 20 years in prison by an Ivory Coast court in October 2008.

The company, Tommy, had been contracted by Trafigura to lawfully dispose of 500 tons of oil-industry waste. It was instead dumped in 15 public areas in Abidjan.

According to local officials, 17 people died after breathing in toxic fumes, while up to 100,000 people required medical attention after also being poisoned.

The effects of Africa's biggest toxic waste scandal are also suspected of being responsible for birth defects.

Trafigura last year rejected the link, saying that an independent investigation it commissioned could not find a causal relationship between the dumping and health problems among the local population.