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the victims. This, in turn, led to the resignation of the entire disgraced Ivorian cabinet. However, the British oil firm Trafigura, who is ultimately responsible for dumping the toxins, were left unscathed by the protests. They remain so even now, as comfortable and confident as ever, while spokespersons demonstrate not one shred of remorse over what happened in this west African state. Travelling by cargo ship, in July 2006, the company tried to legally dispose of the waste in Amsterdam. However, the ship was emitting an overwhelming stench that led Dutch authorities to carry out some tests. In doing so, They discovered the waste was highly toxic and told Trafigura that it would cost half a million euros to dispose of safely, says BBC Newsnight, in a new investigate report of the tragedy. BBC obtained copies of those tests, which showed that the tanker held tons of phenols which can cause death by contact, tons of hydrogen sulphide, lethal if inhaled in high concentrations, and vast quantities of corrosive caustic soda and mercaptans. According to a leading toxicologist, mercaptans are the most odorous compounds ever produced. Trafigura didnt like what it was told, so they picked up and headed to West Africa. Meanwhile, the report was buried, and Dutch authorities falsified documents to conceal the toxic nature of the waste. Right now, there is a massive ongoing lawsuit against the company, involving 30,000 of the 100,000 people that were affected by the dump, referred to as the Ivorian Chernobyl but more accurately seen as the Bhopal of West Africa.
Indeed, the similarities between Trafigura and Union Carbide (Dow Chemical) in Bhopal, are too stark to ignore: Both incidents happened in the dead of night, both were connected to the oil and gas industry, and most tellingly, both companies proclaim their own brand of innocence: Union Carbide through selling its shares to absolve them of any responsibility; and Trafigura through utter denial. Thats right. The company says the tanker never held anything more than oil slop, certainly nothing that could be considered toxic or dangerous to human beings. The dead say otherwise. And so do those women and children with a disfigured reminder on their bodies of what its like to be an other in West Africa. If you want to learn more, check out BBC Newsnights video report: Dirty tricks and toxic waste in Ivory Coast