No, this has nothing to do with the oil disaster in the Gulf. Trafigura (here's some history from last year) is now being pursued by Dutch prosecutors for putting "self-interest above people's health and the environment." Sounds familiar, though in this case it was about charges of knowingly dumping toxic waste into an already poor African country. This is an industry that like Wall Street, believes that it's above the law. They've been fortunate enough to have friends in the right places though those ties are being tested now.
At the start of a trial in Amsterdam – at which Trafigura is accused of an initial attempt to get rid of the waste cheaply in the Netherlands – prosecutor Look Bougert told the court the company had put "self-interest above people's health and the environment".
He said Trafigura first tried to conceal how dangerous the waste was, then pumped it back on board its tanker and left the Netherlands with hundreds of tonnes of oil residue, contaminated with foul-smelling sulphur mercaptans and toxic hydrogen sulphide.
Instead of paying for specialist disposal, Trafigura "dumped it over the fence" in Abidjan, the main port of poverty-stricken Ivory Coast in west Africa. "Cheap, but with consequences," Bougert said.
