Charity Davenport
9/18/09
12:54pm
According to an article posted on September 16, 2009, the British oil trader (called Trafigura) offered to disperse money in a historic damages claim from about 31,000 Africans who were said to be injured by one of the worst pollution disasters in recent history—which included the dumping of toxic waste. There was a compensation deal for the victims in West Africa, but now the attempts to cover up what really happened can be brought to the surface for the first time. There are some company emails that state the true nature and extent of the toxic waste, even though Trafigura had once publicly claimed that the waste was harmless.
I found this article to be very upsetting. There were emails found that revealed how the company employers were told beforehand that their planned operation created very dangerous wastes and was widely outlawed—but instead, they went ahead with the process anyway. This goes to show that they did, indeed, know that their actions could possibly cause much damage and hurt many people. Instead of doing things correctly and safely, they wanted to conform to a scheme that was “cheap and dirty”. It’s sad to know that the victims had to live with symptoms and side effects of this toxic waste chaos, but couldn’t even let anyone know about it. It really makes me wonder if things like this happen on a regular basis. I’m just glad that the truth has finally come to the light and that the victims will not have to remain silenced anymore.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/16/trafigura-oil-ivory-coast
No comments:
Post a Comment