Arrival and arrest of Trafigura team
In early September 2006, reports of alleged casualties resulting
from exposure to the slops in Abidjan were emerging.
By 11th September, representatives from the Secretariat of the
Basel Convention had arrived in the city, along with agencies
including the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination
(UNDAC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). A specialist team
from UNDAC was set up to inspect potential dump sites, working
together with the Ivorian Government.
By 12th September, all known dump sites had been inspected in
collaboration with CIAPOL (Centre Ivorien Anti-Pollution), UNOSAT
(United Nations Institute for Training and Research) and other
agencies. A preliminary report was released within a week but
few of the samples taken by CIAPOL were submitted for analysis, and
the scope of the analysis was limited.
On 14th September, Trafigura sent its own team to Abidjan to
offer technical, medical and financial assistance to the
investigation. While Trafigura could not have foreseen the
disgraceful actions of Compagnie Tommy, it was deeply concerned on
hearing the reports coming out of Abidjan.
The Trafigura delegation went to Abidjan in good faith to help
deal with the emergency. It included two executives, Claude Dauphin
(Trafigura’s Chairman) and Jean-Pierre Valentini (a senior manager
of the company), a team of doctors, a geologist and a refining
engineer.
Captain N’Zi Kablan (Trafigura’s local manager of Puma Energy CI
- Trafigura’s subsidiary company in Abidjan) also joined the
delegation.
On 18th September, four days after arriving in Abidjan, Claude
Dauphin, Jean-Pierre Valentini and Captain N’Zi Kablan were
arrested by Ivorian authorities and subsequently imprisoned by way
of pre-trial detention for five months in Abidjan’s Maca
prison.
By 17th September, representatives from TREDI, the French
environmental remediation company, had also arrived in Abidjan.
TREDI had been commissioned by the Ivorian Government to begin an
extensive clean-up operation at Akouédo and the other sites. TREDI
went on to remove approximately 9,535 cubic metres of material –
approximately 18 times more material than the volume of slops (528
cubic metres) claimed to have been dumped in and around
Abidjan.
Subsequent scientific analysis of the material removed from
Abidjan by TREDI found contamination that could never have
originated from the slops. As was later proven, the dump
sites used by Compagnie Tommy had been repeatedly and extensively
contaminated in the past. The material extracted was later
incinerated at the TREDI plant at Salaise-sur-Sanne, in
south-eastern France.
Meanwhile, UNDAC had been carrying out an environmental impact
assessment with a team of experts from the French Civil Protection.
On 18th September, UNDAC reported:
‘It is believed that three weeks after the dumping of the waste
the concentrations of the concerned compounds in the air are low
and no further adverse health effects are to be expected. However
the chemicals, especially mercaptans have strong smells at low
concentrations [and are] detectable by the human nose at
concentrations far below danger levels. This may give a false
impression of toxicity.’
FAQs
What did Trafigura do upon becoming aware of the
incident?
On 14th September, Trafigura sent its own team to Abidjan to
offer technical, medical and financial assistance to the
investigation. While Trafigura could not have foreseen the
disgraceful actions of Compagnie Tommy, it was deeply concerned on
hearing the reports coming out of Abidjan.
The Trafigura delegation went to Abidjan in good faith to help
deal with the emergency. It included two executives, Claude Dauphin
(Trafigura’s Chairman) and Jean-Pierre Valentini (a senior manager
of the company), Captain N’Zi Kablan (Trafigura’s local manager of
Puma Energy CI, Trafigura’s subsidiary company in Abidjan), a team
of doctors, a geologist and a refining engineer.
What steps did Trafigura take to secure the release of its
executives?
Trafigura immediately began discussions to secure the release of
its executives, including direct discussions with the Ivorian
Government as well as diplomatic proceedings. The executives
were released in February 2007.