POPs IN AFRICA HAZARDOUS WASTE TRADE 1980 - 2000 ... - Arte

Obsolete Pesticides: In Mali there are altogether 13,761 tonnes of obsolete pesticides
including heavily polluted soils caused by 238 tonnes of obsolete
pesticides stored in at least 15 different locations.
The following substance was identified, among others:
Dieldrin. 123
MAURITANIA
The first country wide survey in Mali was carried out by GTZ in
1996, financed by the Stroemme Foundation (Norway). Around
90 tonnes of obsolete pesticides were identified, among them 56
000 litres (56 tonnes) of Dieldrin. During the survey, they
discovered in Tin Essako, a former pesticide basis of the Plant
Protection service of Mali (270 Km from Kidal, in the southern
Sahara) that the soil of the station was heavily contaminated with
a cocktail of pesticides. Soil analyses discovered residues of
pesticides with a concentration up to 6,750 mg/kg Lindane. The
pesticide store was destroyed during the Tuareg rebellion
(1991/92). The only well in the whole area is less then 100 m
away from the contaminated area. 124
“Following a meeting in Bamako in October 2000, an update of
the provisional inventory of 240 tonnes of potentially obsolete
product (sic!) is awaited by industry. It is hoped that this will be
available by mid 2001.” 125
BASEL LOMÉ IV / COTONOU BAMAKO
16.08.96 Ratified Party Signatory
National Policy: The country of Mauritania, as a party to the Lomé Convention,
totally bans waste shipments to its territory.
Waste Import Schemes: Scheme: MCL
Date: December 1987
Type of Waste: Industrial
Source: Belgium
Exporter: Maritime Chartering and Liner Shipping
Pretext/Fate: Dumping
Status: Unknown
123 FAO 1999,2001
124 GTZ-Report, 1997
125 GCPF 2001
According to documents obtained by Greenpeace Belgium, a
Belgian company, Maritime Chartering and Liner Shipping
(MCL), requested authorization to deposit industrial waste of a
“low level of toxicity” in Mauritania. The waste was said to be
of Belgian origin but could not be buried in Belgium because of
the country’s dense population and the danger of the waste. The
documents also revealed that the waste fell within Article 2 of the
66