VOA常速英语2007年-Ivory Coast Still Suffering from Toxic Spill

By Lisa Bryant
Abidjan
15 December 2007

More than a year after 500 tons of toxic¹ waste from Europe were dumped illegally around the Ivory Coast's economic hub, Abidjan, roughly a fourth of the area poisoned by the spill has not yet been cleaned up. Many residents of the commercial capital remain ill and uncompensated for their ailments⁴. Lisa Bryant has more on what experts say is the worst toxic waste spill in years.

Late at night in August 2006, several hundred tons of toxic waste were dumped around Abidjan, including this suburb of Akoueko extension, which bore the brunt of the dumping. The waste had been shipped by the Dutch company Trafigura, from the Netherlands. Trafigura had contracted out its disposal to an Ivorian firm, which had no means to properly dispose of the poisonous material.

Residents woke up with nausea⁵ and headaches. They formed a neighborhood activist⁶ association, one of several created around the city, to protest the dumping and demand compensation. Altogether, the spill killed at least 15 people and sickened another 100,000.

Some Ivorian authorities were fired for the dumping scandal and Trafigura ultimately paid a $200 million compensation agreement to the Ivorian government.  But today, Akouedo residents complain they still feel sick, and that the toxic waste has not been properly cleaned up.

Olivier Dago Zate, is head of the Akouedo activist group.

Zate says Akouedo citizens are worried, because they do not know the mid- and long-term consequences of the toxic waste that was dumped in their town. They do not know what kind of waste it was, and that is serious, he says.

Zate and several other residents take me on a tour of the nearby dumping sites. One is surrounded by barbed wire. A sickly looking green stream flows behind it. The other sits on open ground, amid tall rushes. The area is also where Abidjan dumps its municipal waste.

Zate claims nothing has been done to clean up the spill. All it takes, he says, is a hot sun for the air to smell like old garlic or rotten eggs.

The French company Tredi, charged with shipping⁷ the waste back to France for treatment and disposal, disputes the association's claims. It says it has cleaned up Akouedo extension. Still, Tredi another 3,500 tons of poisonous soil remain untreated around Abidjan.

The French company says that is because Tit has not yet received new orders from the Ivorian government to clean up the rest.  Ivorian authorities say they want Trafigura to pay more cleanup money, but Trafigura insists it has fulfilled its agreement.

Jim Puckett, of the Basel Action Network, a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization fighting against toxic waste shipment, criticizes Trafigura's response.

"The response to this incident has really been quite shameful," he noted⁸.  "There's been a settlement paid, the country of Cote d'Ivoire was quite desperate to get any money at that point in time. They took the settlement from Trafigura company of about $200 million, but that's not enough to pay the costs, liabilities and remediation that has to take place."

Puckett is also critical of the Ivorian government and other African countries for not signing the Basel Convention banning the shipment of hazardous⁹ waste, even though these countries are the least prepared to handle its effects.

The costs of last year's dumping have been damaging in other ways.

A few miles around from the Akouedo dumping grounds sits the Kafango family's small house. Niece Marina Kafango, 13, is here visiting her aunt. She is a pretty girl, but she walks around with crutches¹⁰.

Marina's mother, Josephine, explains her daughter fell violently ill with a blood ailment³ after last year's toxic waste spills. She shows me a stack of letters and medical examination results. Like many Ivorians affected¹¹ by the toxic waste spill, Josephine says the family has not been compensated² for the medical treatment.

But Gervaise Coulibaly, spokesman for Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, says there is simply not enough money to go around.

Coulibaly sympathizes with the victims but says there will never be enough money to treat everyone. He says the government plans instead to use most of Trafigura's money to create health centers and pollution prevention measures to ensure similar catastrophes¹² will not happen again.

But Puckett, of Basel Action Network, is not so sure. He says Africa and other developing countries are faced with new hazards, notably¹³ old ships and computers dumped on their shores from richer nations. He says electronic waste is flooding from north to south and very little is being done to stop it.

1 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

2 compensated   

补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款）

参考例句：

• The marvelous acting compensated for the play's weak script. 本剧的精彩表演弥补了剧本的不足。
• I compensated his loss with money. 我赔偿他经济损失。

3 ailment   

n.疾病，小病

参考例句：

• I don't have even the slightest ailment.我什么毛病也没有。
• He got timely treatment for his ailment.他的病得到了及时治疗。

4 ailments   

疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His ailments include a mild heart attack and arthritis. 他患有轻度心脏病和关节炎。
• He hospitalizes patients for minor ailments. 他把只有小病的患者也送进医院。

5 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

6 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

7 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

10 crutches   

n.拐杖, 支柱 v.支撑

参考例句：

• After the accident I spent six months on crutches . 事故后我用了六个月的腋杖。
• When he broke his leg he had to walk on crutches. 他腿摔断了以后，不得不靠拐杖走路。

11 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

12 catastrophes   

n.灾祸( catastrophe的名词复数 )；灾难；不幸事件；困难

参考例句：

• Two of history's worst natural catastrophes occurred in 1970. 1970年发生了历史上最严重两次自然灾害。 来自辞典例句
• The Swiss deposits contain evidence of such catastrophes. 瑞士的遗址里还有这种灾难的证据。 来自辞典例句

13 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。