COTE D'IVOIRE: Toxic threat passed but public fear continues

Photo: Pauline Bax/IRIN

Fumes from toxic dumps like this one in Abidjan are not dangerous, experts say

ABIDJAN, 14 September 2006 (IRIN) - As the foul smell from toxic waste dumped last month in Abidjan dissipates, and with it the main threat of intoxication and illness experts say, city dwellers poorly informed about what was dumped and how it can affect them continue to flock to hospitals, desperately seeking advice.

Information gathered by a United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination mission (UNDAC) and a French emergency team dispatched from Paris have confirmed 400 tonnes of gasoline residue were dumped at between 10 and 14 sites in Abidjan on the 19 and 20 August.

According to UNDAC, the worst affected area is a massive city dump at Akouedo where hundreds of people continue to live and work. Other dumping sites are alongside roads, one in a channel leading to a lake, and others on open ground.

UNDAC advised Ivorians to keep well away from any waste material or contaminated soil or water, and not eat dead animals or fish found close to identified sites.

However, UNDAC experts stressed that even though a choking chemical smell is still hanging over many affected areas, causing a burning sensation in eyes and throats when breathed, the most recent air sampling and analysis around the dump sites have revealed negligible levels of dangerous pollution.

“At this time, direct exposure by inhalation is unlikely, given the time lapse since the dumping... none of the components was found in substantial concentrations in the ambient air close to the waste.”

Toxic components definitely formed part of the waste, and direct skin contact or breathing in the volatile substances in the day immediately after the waste was dumped would have led to illness, UNDAC said.

Thousands of Ivorians have been flooding the city’s hospitals complaining of breathing difficulties, headaches, nausea and vomiting.

Free treatment at the city’s hospitals have been made available, and a spokesperson for the Health Ministry told IRIN on Tuesday that 9,000 people have flooded the city’s hospitals seeking treatment. Other news reports have said up to 16,000 people have sought assistance.

However, medical staff said it is not clear how many of those people have made multiple visits to the hospital upon return to their homes near affected areas after re-experiencing their symptoms.

Neither is it clear how many people are taking advantage of the free treatment to get consultations for other illnesses not related to the toxic waste.

Earlier reports that waste had been dumped into Ebrie Lagoon have not been confirmed, UNDAC said, adding that it was not able to link the presence of dead fish in this lagoon with the dumping of toxic waste.

The UNDAC team has confirmed that the potential for exposure through secondary means like surface water, groundwater and through eating vegetables or fish grown in contaminated soil is still a possibility, but has not found any evidence of contamination yet.

The French experts’ report, a copy of which was obtained by IRIN, said Abidjan’s water table is much deeper than the pollutants have leaked.

The city water authorities are currently measuring water quality three times per day and have not discovered any change in it.

Although Abidjan’s worst fears of massive casualties from the toxic dumping appear to have been laid to rest by the scientific reports, the city is far from being in the clear.

Some - but not all - of the identified sites have been cordoned off.

Pollution experts contacted by IRIN said the next urgent step is to start excavating the dump sites into sealed ponds.

Sabeha Ouki, professor of pollution control and management at the University of Suffolk in the UK said: “How long it takes before it affects drinking water supplies depends on how deep the water table is. It will take quite a long time as the pollutants have to travel through the soil.”

“If the quantities [dumped] are large, excavation procedures should take place to move all the contaminated soil to an area where it can be treated properly,” she said.

The UNDAC team similarly recommended that “the clean-up of affected areas should be commenced as quickly as possible, to include a plan of action for loading, transporting, storage, analysis and treatment of the waste, as well as monitoring of air quality and other safety measures during the clean-up operation.”

The scandal has become highly politicised in Cote d’Ivoire, since the resignation of Cote d’Ivoire’s power-sharing government last week because of the dumping.

Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny, who remains in office, is expected to announce a new cabinet by the end of this week.

But the main opposition parties have warned they will not participate in the new government until those responsible for the dumping have been detained.

Authorities have arrested seven people in connection with the dumping, including three customs officials and a high-ranking official at the Transport Ministry, local press reported.

According to news reports the Greek-owned cargo ship at the centre of the crisis is operated by a Dutch-based multinational trading company. The company has reportedly said it handed the waste over to an Ivorian firm to dispose of correctly.

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