Greenpeace continues Trafigura pursuit over toxic waste

Courtesy of guardian.co.uk

Greenpeace said today it would continue legal action against Trafigura, the London-based oil traders whose toxic waste was dumped in Ivory Coast in 2006, injuring thousands of Africans.

Trafigura confirmed a last-minute £30m deal to settle compensation claims. That amounts to almost £1,000 for each of the 31,000 people involved.

A high court trial in London was due to open on 6 October, after three years in which the oil traders denied liability and threatened critics with libel actions.

One Ivorian group representing victims criticised the deal and accused the company of exploiting Africa's poverty.

Greenpeace wants Trafigura prosecuted for manslaughter and grievous bodily harm, citing documents it says demonstrate the waste's high toxicity. Trafigura also faces a Dutch prosecution for allegedly lying about the true nature of its waste.

Greenpeace said of Trafigura's strategy: "Justice is not a commodity to be bought and sold: only when those who are responsible are prosecuted under the full force of the law and made to pay for their crime will environmental legislation become a force to be reckoned with."

The Ivorian National Federation of Victims, which says it represents nearly all the victims, accused Trafigura of trying to avert a public trial. Denis Pipira Yao, the group's president, told Reuters in Abidjan: "As people are poor in Africa, Trafigura is using money to get away with it."

greenpeace, toxic waste, trafigura