A man points to an open drain where toxic waste was dumped, in an industrial zone of Abidjan. The number of people poisoned by the dumping of highly toxic sludge in Ivory Coast has surged to 10,000 with six dead.
ABIDJAN, 13 September 2006: A large amount of toxic waste dumped by a Netherlands-based multinational firm in the Ivory Coast capital is in the sea and near market gardening areas, a U.N. representative said yesterday, expressing fears that it may have spread to the food chain.
"Reliable sources indicate that a significant amount of waste was dumped in the sea and the lagoon as well as near the market gardening zones," Youssouf Omar, a United Nations humanitarian coordinator, said in a statement.
The latest discovery "redoubles concerns as to the possible pollution effects on the food chain", he said, adding that if 11 dumpsites have been identified so far "other sites are likely to be discovered".
Ivorian officials say six people, including four children, have died and 10,000 sought medical consultations at more than 30 health centres since the waste was unloaded in August.
Omar said the U.N. will open an inquiry, at the request of the Ivorian government, into the cross-border transportation and discharge of toxic waste under international waste disposal conventions.
The U.N. has also given the embattled west African country medicine worth around 38,000 euros (A$64,215) to manage the crisis arising from the dumping of close to 600 tonnes of waste at public sites.
Thousands of residents of the country's commercial capital have been poisoned in recent weeks by fumes emanating from the waste unloaded between August 19 and 20 by a Greek vessel chartered by a Netherlands-based multinational oil distributor.
Oil storage and distribution firm Trafigura claimed yesterday it had respected all international conventions on waste disposal and had handed the waste to certified Ivorian firm Compagnie Tommy for disposal.
Seven Ivorians, including heads of three local companies - Puma Energie, Waibs and Tommy - have been arrested over the dumping of the highly toxic waste at open-air garbage sites across Abidjan.
Two Netherlands environmental experts travelled to the West African country on Monday to join three U.N. experts and six French waste disposal specialists responding to the disaster.
Switzerland is also planning to send an expert to help deal with the crisis, which triggered angry protests and the mass resignation of Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny's cabinet last week.
Environmental pressure group Greenpeace said the dumped sludge was made up of oil refining waste, rich in organic matter and poisonous elements. These include hydrogen sulphide and organochloride, which cause nausea, rashes, fainting, diarrhoea and headaches.
