On August 2006, approximately 400 tons of allegedly highly toxic waste was dumped in the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan by Probo Koala, a cargo ship chartered the London-based arm of the shipping giant Trafigura.
Pungent smell and noxious fumes drifted over the area and left at least 10 people dead and more than 40,000 seeking medical advice after suffering from sickness and nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, breathlessness, headaches, skin damage, and swollen stomachs.
Now, the ground for one of the largest class actions heard in the U.K. is now being prepared. Thousands of witnesses are expected to turn in their statements and up to 5,000 people may sue those to blame, according to According to Leigh Day, the British law firm advocating for the victims.
Waste from the oil tanker, which allegedly had high levels of caustic soda, as well as a sulphur compound and hydrogen sulphide, was dumped on rubbish tips, poured down drains and left at roadsides, in abattoirs and in lagoons that sent hospitals, health centers and the Red Cross besieged with terrified residents. Water supplies were contaminated and fisheries and schools closed. Amid angry protests, the Ivory Coast government temporarily collapsed.
The United Nations' Environment Program (UNEP) reported that half the 18 dumping sites have still not been decontaminated. "One of the world's poorest countries is having to pay for the recovery, shipment and decontamination of toxic waste originally produced thousands of miles away in the industrialized world," it added.
The Ivorian government is being forced to choose between paying hospital bills and the costs of decontamination and clean up estimated at $30 million (£15 million).
There is an apparent redemption as the casualties and those harmed are poised to arrive at a settlement, which should command huge payout, not to mention sending a good lesson or two on 'littering.'