Tsunami may have spread previously dumped hazardous wastes

The Indian Ocean tsunami that hit the Somali coast in December may have spread hazardous wastes dumped there earlier, exposing residents to possible health problems, the UN environment agency, UNEP, said on Thursday. Nick Nuttall, UNEP head of media services, told IRIN that preliminary reports had shown that waste containers on the Somali coast may have been damaged by the tsunami and toxic chemicals blown around by the wind. "Our experts believe that a wide range of wastes had been dumped there," Nuttall said. "Radioactive wastes, hospital wastes, heavy metals like lead and Cadmium, chemical wastes and leather treatment wastes." The issue of hazardous waste in Somalia dates back to the early 1990s, when foreign companies - taking advantage of the lack of government - dumped unknown quantities of waste. "There have been reports from time to time of dumping," Nuttall added. "It costs [US] $2.50 a tonne to get rid of waste in Africa, whereas to dispose of the same waste in Europe costs more like $250 a tonne." Nuttall said that it was not clear where the waste originated. "All we know of country of origin is that they are likely to have been European countries," he said. According to the spokesman, the most affected localities were believed to be North Hobyo [Mudug region, central Somalia] and Warsheik, north of Mogadishu. The number of people affected was unknown, but some sicknesses had been reported including "mouth bleeding, respiratory infections, abdominal haemorrhages [and] unusual skin reactions". UNEP, he added, was in talks with the Somali transitional government about sending a full assessment mission. The tsunami devastated more than 650 km of coastline on 26 December. Relief workers estimated that at least 150 people died while 54,000 were left in need of emergency assistance. Northeastern Somalia was the worst affected, particularly the stretch between Hafun [Bari region] and Garacad [Mudug region]. Some 4,000 of those displaced are expected to relocate from where they used to live because the massive waves altered the coastline. Many of these people were still living on higher ground about a kilometre from the coastline, weeks after the tsunami. Residents of the fishing community of Hafun, the worst hit area, had their boats and more than half their homes destroyed by the killer wave, leaving them without shelter, clean water, sanitation and food, according to relief workers.