CARCINOGENIC chemical waste that is polluting the main port of the tiny East
African country of Djibouti should be cleaned up and sent back to Britain, says
a UN agency.
Two hundred tonnes of chromated copper arsenate have spilt onto the dockside
in the port of Djibouti on the Red Sea, after plastic drums carrying the
corrosive wood preservative burnt through and began to leak. New
快猫短视频 understands that the company responsible for the Ethiopia-bound
shipment is CSI Wood Protection of Widnes, a subsidiary of the US chemicals
conglomerate Rockwood Specialties. The company has admitted its involvement to
the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, but did not respond to requests from
快猫短视频 for information on the spill.
Djibouti has few natural resources and its economy relies heavily on its main
port, which strategically links nearby international shipping lanes with a
railhead to Ethiopia. But the leak is 鈥渃reating serious human health and
environmental problems鈥�, says FAO inspector Kevin Helps, who was called in by
the Djibouti government. 鈥淭he chemical is corrosive. It should never have been
put in plastic drums.鈥� The FAO says the waste should be cleaned up and sent back
to Britain. And the 鈥減arty responsible鈥� should pick up the tab, which could
exceed $1 million.
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The leak has so far spilled across more than 2 hectares of dockside in
Djibouti, contaminating soil and threatening a nearby warehouse containing food
aid. It began to spill from the drums, housed in 10 shipping containers, during
unloading at the dock in mid-January. 鈥淟iquid continues to leak from the
containers,鈥� Helps said this week. 鈥淢any workers have been exposed to this toxic
尘补迟别谤颈补濒.鈥�
The chemicals were earmarked for treating wooden pylons owned by the
Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation. 鈥淭he material needs to be sent back to
Britain. No suitable facilities exist in Africa for its safe disposal,鈥� says
Helps. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, standard
formulations of the preservative contain 22 per cent arsenic, which causes skin,
bladder and lung cancer.