‘Probo Koala wanted to dump waste at sea’

Oil trader Trafigura wanted to dump the toxic waste on board the ship Probo Koala at sea after deciding not to process it in Amsterdam, the Financieele Dagblad claims on Tuesday.


The paper quotes an email from Trafigura staff as saying the dumping should be done ‘once past Dover, on the way to Lome (Nigeria)’. The emails form part of the criminal case against Trafigura, the paper says.
The FD says it is unclear why the waste was not dumped at sea and was eventually taken to Ivory Coast, where thousands became ill and 16 people are said to have died.
Amsterdam court holds preliminary hearings in the case against Trafigura, city council officials and others on Thursday and Friday. The Amsterdam-based company is suspected of breaking European rules on waste imports and exports.
The case centres on the short period in 2006 that Probo Koala was in Amsterdam, where the waste was first taken off the ship for processing and then pumped back because it was too expensive.

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