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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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Oil Giant Tries to Settle Biggest- Ever UK Lawsuit

Trafigura offers deal to Africans sickened by toxic sludge

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(Newser) – A British multinational has offered a multimillion-dollar payout to settle a case involving toxic pollution in the Ivory Coast, the Independent reports. A contractor working for oil trading firm Trafigura dumped hundreds of tons of toxic sludge around Abidjan in 2006, sickening tens of thousands. Some were permanently disfigured, and the dumping has been linked to 15 deaths.

Thousands of Ivorians who suffered short-term illnesses and vomiting after the dumping will receive payments of several hundred dollars under the settlement. Trafigura—which a recent UN report accused of “stifling independent reporting and public criticism”—continues to deny liability and has deployed teams of lawyers from one of the UK's most aggressive firms to dispute media coverage of the case.

A man pointing to his unusable fields near a warning for a toxic zone still unsafe after the discovery of hundreds of tons of dumped toxic waste near Abidjan
A man pointing to his unusable fields near a warning for a toxic zone still unsafe after the discovery of hundreds of tons of dumped toxic waste near Abidjan   (AFP/Getty Images)
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3 comments
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Spudsy
Sep 17, 09 12:33 PM CDT
So you can take a piece of the earth, a finite resource, and make it completely unusable and it only costs millions? Reply
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zackmasson
Sep 17, 09 12:38 PM CDT
Makes me sick how these people can pay their way out of a shitting on basic human rights and walk away Scott free. One of the surviving victims should take out the leaders of this company like the trash they are. Reply
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radnip
Sep 22, 09 11:58 AM CDT
Hmm...is there a day when some business or businessperson isn't being punished, fined, arrested or apologizing about a wrongdoing? Just checking because I noticed there isn't...a day, that is. Reply
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