Environment
Minister Michael Meacher calls for inquiry into major chemical leak
uncovered by Radio 4's Face The Facts
BBC
Radio 4's Face The Facts investigative programme, broadcast on Friday
19 July at 12.30pm, uncovers that at least three people have died
and many more have been injured in the East African port of Djibouti
following a major chemical leak involving hundreds of tonnes of
highly toxic liquid from a British based manufacturer.
The
final death toll could be even higher because the wood preservative
contains known carcinogens.
Two
consignments totaling 6,000 plastic jerricans were found to have
leaked disastrously at the dock contaminating thousands of tonnes
of soil and affecting the health of dozens of workers.
In
one container 94 out of 95 jerricans were discovered to have leaked
their contents.
Environment
Minister Michael Meacher, when told of the incident by Radio 4's
Face The Facts programme, said: "I am utterly appalled at this
- there is a level of pollution of a highly dangerous chemical,
a known carcinogen, on a scale which is just staggering.
"This
isn't just the leaking of a few canisters - this is contamination
on a major scale, which signifies there was a massive failure associated
with either the plastic drums themselves, because this was the first
time this shipment had come in plastic, or to do with the way the
jerricans were loaded into the containers.
"But
this should never have been allowed to happen and I will launch
an immediate investigation into what has gone wrong.
"The
British Government is prepared to take action - we will have to
learn the lessons from this.
"It
is very distressing that this could happen and if this had occurred
in a British port or anywhere else in the developed world action
would have taken place immediately, and the workers would have been
protected from the terrible effects associated with exposure to
this chemical.
"We
are prepared to take all the contaminated soil and the remaining
containers presently isolated in the port and transport them back
to Britain where they can be safely disposed of.
"We
will then pursue the polluter to recover the costs of this operation
under the principle which we have in this country, that the polluter
pays."
The
consignment was en route from Teeside to Ethiopia but was put ashore
in Djibouti for onward dispatch.
The
consignment had already started leaking on the ship, according to
Dr Kevin Helps, from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.
At
all stages men who handled the cargo felt its effects. Some were
overcome by the fumes, others suffered burns and dizziness and -
according to health authorities at the country's main hospital -
at least three workers died following the incident.
The
chemical chromated copper arsenate is a known carcinogen and according
to Professor Alistair Hay, head of Environmental Toxicology at the
University of Leeds, the symptoms experienced by the workers are
entirely consistent with exposure to this very dangerous cocktail
of chemicals.
"This
mixture in the concentrated form could certainly kill people, undoubtedly,
that is a recognised phenomenon after exposure to massive quantities
of arsenic, when I say massive it could be quantities about a gram,
you know you're talking about a 25th of an ounce," he said.
"If
someone was exposed to that quantity it would be many times the
lethal dose and then death would occur perhaps some 36 to 48 hours
after exposure."
According
to hospital consultant Dr Abdillahi Hassan Bessi, although three
men admitted to the Peltier Hospital in Djibouti died following
the leak, there might be others who did not receive medical attention
and who died at home.
"If
you have seen three people in a hospital, three of them dead in
the hospital, there are a lot of people who have got this kind of
syndrome and who have not come to the hospital and died in their
homes, killed by this toxic substance," he said.
"I
don't have an idea how many people at all have been died of this
toxic substance."
The chemical was to be used in Ethiopia in a highly diluted form
to coat timber telegraph poles.
The
shipping containers with their remaining plastic jerricans are still
leaking and have been put in a specially constructed isolation area
within the port.
Both
the United Nations and government officials in Djibouti say there
are no facilities to safely dispose of the contaminated soil and
containers anywhere in Africa and they want it shipped back to Britain.
The
product came from the Widnes based company, CSI Wood Protection
Limited.
Previous
consignments had always been shipped in steel containers and no
one has so far taken responsibility for deciding to switch to plastic
jerricans.
According
to Alemayehu Wodageneh, a senior chemical expert at the UN Food
and Agriculture Organisation, some 200 tonnes of the chromated copper
arsenate is leaking because it had been packed in unsuitable containers:
"The
chemical is highly toxic to marine life and with rain there is the
possibility that it could flow into the sea and have a very serious
impact on fish stocks. This chemical is extremely dangerous to people."
As
a result of the programme's findings the environmental law firm
Leigh Day and Co is to dispatch a legal team to Djibouti to interview
victims of the spill, many of whom are continuing to suffer ill
effects and have received no compensation.
The
initial focus of their action will be against the British based
manufacturer, CSI. He hopes that eventually a case will be heard
by a court in this country.
The
United Nations was called in by the Djibouti Ministry of Agriculture
following the spill on 9 January.
Their
expert, Dr Kevin Helps, believes the containers started to leak
while on the vessel: "In 10 years of doing this type of work
of intervention at Felixstowe, in Rotterdam, major ports within
the EU, I've never seen such a case.
"If
this had happened in the EU somebody would have been prosecuted
within weeks. It's not an accident, somebody is responsible for
this."
"It's
quite clear to me," said the programme's presenter, John Waite,
"that this disastrous leak has had far wider consequences than
anyone has reported.
"The
fact that it happened in some far away African country should not
mean that the incident isn't investigated as fully as it would have
been had it happened at a British port.
"Given
that the liquid was manufactured and dispatched from this country
we should bear some responsibility for the damage to both workers
and the environment."
The
company British based CSI Wood Protection Limited, part of an American
multinational, said it was not aware that any workers had been harmed
due to the leakage and when it had tried to launch its own investigation
it had been barred from the port.
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