Citation
(2007), "Companies deny liability for pollution", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 18 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/meq.2007.08318dab.005
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Companies deny liability for pollution
A Dutch firm implicated in a toxic waste incident in the Ivory Coast has agreed to pay the Ivorian government €152 m to end legal proceedings against it in the country. The company denies liability and insisted that the payment was not a form of compensation.
Trafigura was accused of dumping toxic waste in the Ivory Coast in August 2006. Waste from its vessel the Probo Koala caused several deaths and hundreds of injuries among the population. The deal reached will secure the release of three of its executives currently held in a local prison. The Ivorian government says it will use the money to clean up the waste, provide healthcare to victims and make an independent environmental audit. The incident helped spur the European commission into proposing tougher, more harmonised EU penalties for eco-crimes.