Ivory Coast chemical dump cleanup
The UN Environmental Programme director appeals for international action on Ivory Coast's toxic-waste cleanup.
The UN is calling for international aid to clean up massive amounts of hazardous waste illegally dumped in Ivory Coast last summer.
In August, a European-chartered ship unloaded hundreds of metric tons of petrochemicals and related compounds into trucks that dumped the waste at sites around the city of Abidjan in the West African country. UN Environmental Programme director Achim Steiner said in November that UN members should assist with cleanup and enforce existing laws to prevent future dumping.
Ivory Coast hired a private European company to collect, ship, and process the waste. The operation’s total cost could climb as high as $30 million, according to Ivorian authorities.
Steiner’s call to action came days before a Nairobi (Kenya) meeting of parties to the Basel Convention, an international treaty that aims to reduce hazardous-waste generation and shipments.
