Quote:

As to these exterminators, nonewithstanding the silliness of your example, sorry but no - They are not out to destroy entire species.

Unlike God, the corporations are limited in their powers, but like God, they promise infinite salvation.

Really? Got an example?

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From SwissInfo

Trafigura in court over toxic waste

Simon Bradley
swissinfo.ch with agencies
Jun 2, 2010 - 14:37


Trafigura, a top commodities trader with Swiss offices, is facing criminal charges in the Netherlands over illegally exporting hazardous waste to Ivory Coast in 2006.

At a trial in Amsterdam, prosecutors have accused the metals and oil trading firm, which has branches in Geneva and Lucerne, of putting “self interest above people’s health and the environment”. The firm rejects the charges.

Chartered by Dutch-based Trafigura Beheer BV, the ship Probo Koala had wanted to offload 500 tons of “slops” – petrochemical waste, described as residues from gasoline mixed with caustic washings – in Amsterdam in July 2006 but decided not to after being told it would have to pay clean-up costs.

Around a month later, the material was dumped in the Ivorian capital Abidjan and thousands of city residents complained of illnesses.

The Ivorian government said 16 people died but a British judge said last September there was no evidence the waste had caused anything more than "flu-like symptoms".

Trafigura has always denied that the waste was dangerous, or that it knew that the chemicals would be dumped.

The Dutch criminal case, which started on Tuesday, focuses on the docking of the oil tanker in Amsterdam, and will not address details of what happened after the ship left port. It is expected to last around two months.

The ship had begun unloading slops from one of its tanks in the Dutch port, but then had them pumped back aboard after the dispute over processing costs.

An investigation into the composition of the waste was still under way when the ship was granted permission to leave, which prosecutors say violated Dutch law.


Self interest or responsible entrepreneur?

Prosecutor Luuk Boogert said Trafigura, Amsterdam Port Services BV and Amsterdam city authorities had all put "self-interest above people's health and environment" when they allowed the ship to depart with a hazardous cargo.

He said Trafigura had first tried to conceal how dangerous the waste was, then "dumped it over the fence" in Africa to save €400,000 (SFr566,000). "Cheap, but with consequences," he said.

Trafigura is charged with intentionally exporting hazardous waste, concealing its harmfulness, and forgery.

Trafigura lawyer Aldo Verbruggen said the charges were based on an "unfounded moral judgment”.

He told the court: "Trafigura is a company which holds high doing business in a socially responsible manner and it is convinced it has followed the rules that are at issue".

Among those standing trial in Amsterdam is an employee of Trafigura and the Ukrainian captain of the Probo Koala. Neither were present when the trial opened.

The city of Amsterdam and Amsterdam Port Services (APS) deny charges of "leaving dangerous waste in the hands of someone not qualified to process it”. The firm and authorities all face fines and individuals face prison time and fines.


Dumping and payouts

As for later events, Trafigura has never admitted any wrongdoing surrounding incidents in August and September 2006, when the ship later offloaded the 500 tons of slops to a local company in Ivory Coast.

That company then poured the caustic mix into open-air dumps in Abidjan, the West African country's largest city. The head of the local contractor involved was sentenced to 20 years in prison in a trial in Ivory Coast in 2008.

The Guardian’s investigative reporter David Leigh, who has written extensively on this affair, said the Amsterdam trial was “significant” as it represented the first time the Trafigura had faced criminal charges over the scandal.

“In the Ivory Coast they bought their way out of criminal charges and in Britain it was an out-of-court settlement,” he told swissinfo.ch.

In 2007 Trafigura paid €157 million to Ivory Coast to help clean up the waste. It handed over another €40 million in an settlement in London in September 2009 to 30,000 people who said they were affected by the waste.

It was agreed in the London case that the waste could only have caused minor "flu-like symptoms".

But the UN’s top expert on toxic waste, Okechukwu Ibeanu, said in 2009 "it is clear that there is a direct and indirect connection" between the waste and 100,000 illnesses and 16 deaths that Ivory Coast attributed to the pollution.

Environmental group Greenpeace is reportedly still investigating whether there are links between the deaths in Ivory Coast and the toxic waste.

From the Guardian

Trafigura fined €1m for exporting toxic waste to Africa

Dutch court convicts oil trader of illegally exporting waste to Ivory Coast and concealing its hazardous nature in Amsterdam

By Rob Evans
guardian.co.uk
Friday 23 July 2010 14.27 BST


The oil trader Trafigura has been fined ¤1m (£840,000) for illegally exporting tonnes of hazardous waste to west Africa. It is the first time the London-based firm has been convicted of criminal charges over the environmental scandal, in which 30,000 Africans were made ill when the toxic waste was dumped in Ivory Coast.

A court in the Netherlands also ruled today that the firm had concealed the dangerous nature of the waste when it was initially unloaded from a ship in Amsterdam.

Eliance Kouassi, president of the victims' group in Ivory Coast, said: "Finally Trafigura has been called out in a court of law. It's a real victory for us." The fine is, however, only half the amount sought by the Dutch prosecutors.

Amsterdam district court judge Frans Bauduin also convicted a Trafigura employee and the Ukranian captain of the ship that carried the waste for their roles in the 2006 scandal.

The seven-week trial centred on Trafigura's initial attempt to get rid of the waste cheaply in Holland. Look Bougert, prosecuting, told the court that Trafigura had put "self-interest above people's health and the environment".

The prosecutor said Trafigura initially tried to conceal how dangerous the waste was, adding that the firm wrongly described it as routine slops from ordinary tank-cleaning. Residents complained about the foul smell. The company hired to dispose of the waste in Holland wanted more money for the job.

Trafigura then pumped the toxic waste back on to its tanker. The vessel, the Probo Koala, was sent to Ivory Coast, where the cost of getting rid of the waste was much lower. Instead of disposing of it properly, Trafigura "dumped it over the fence" in Abidjan, Bougert said. "Cheap, but with consequences," he added.

Last year, amid an international furore, Trafigura was forced to pay compensation totalling £30m to the thousands of Africans who needed medical treatment. The payments settled out of court a civil legal action brought by London lawyers Leigh Day. Three years ago, in another settlement, Trafigura paid £100m to the Ivorian government to help clean up the waste.

Trafigura has consistently denied wrongdoing, insisting that the waste could not have caused serious illness. After today's verdict, it said it would consider an appeal. "While Trafigura is pleased to have been acquitted of the charge of forgery, it is disappointed by the judge's ruling on the other two, which it believes to be incorrect. Concerning the delivery of dangerous goods, it is important that the court has noted that there was limited risk to human health from these slops, and indeed no damage occurred in Amsterdam."

The court convicted Trafigura employee Naeem Ahmed of leading the effort to dump the waste "while its dangerous nature was concealed". Ahmed was fined ¤25,000 and given a six-month suspended sentence. The Ukrainian captain of the Probo Koala, Sergey Chertov, also was sentenced to a five-month suspended prison term.

Greenpeace campaigner Marietta Harjono said: "This is a first step towards justice and a clear signal to other companies that the illegal export of waste to Africa will not go unpunished."

Trafigura has become notorious for threatening reporters who delve into its conduct. It has been paying for the services of lobbyists Bell Pottinger and libel lawyers Carter-Ruck. Last year, it was forced to back down when it tried to enforce a so-called super-injunction against the Guardian, gagging it from reporting proceedings in parliament.

For you and me, EUR 1 million is a lot of money, certainly more than any of us could afford to spend on a fine. For a company, such as Trafigura, EUR 1 million is peanuts. They already paid EUR 157 millions for the cleanup. The new "fine" is only a symbolic gesture.

Originally Posted by contracycle

I just don't see why I should be expected to submit to feckless fuckers stealing the wealth I create.

This may sound super niave but this point stuck out to me, surly as a Marxist you want higher taxes paid to the state yes? And so all you're really doing is changing the 'thief'

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Originally Posted by Noir

This may sound super niave but this point stuck out to me, surly as a Marxist you want higher taxes paid to the state yes? And so all you're really doing is changing the 'thief'

No. Why would you think that?

This is wrong in two respects; first, I don't even want there to be a distinct "state" at all; and second, if I agree taxes through voting or whatever then the stat is really just acting on my behalf as a bulk purchaser, not a thief.

Originally Posted by contracycle

No. Why would you think that? This is wrong in two respects; first, I don't even want there to be a distinct "state" at all; and second, if I agree taxes through voting or whatever then the stat is really just acting on my behalf as a bulk purchaser, not a thief.

Hold the bus, are you one of those anarchist marxists?
I had a discussion with one of those before, I think he used the term anarcho-communist, well I say discussion, I read all the crap he gave me (many pages worth) and then he decided that my questions about it where benieth him. If you are also an anarcho-communist may I point those points to you? In another thread ofcourse.

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