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

arrangement between Italian businessmen and Nigerian officials.
In the tiny delta port of Koko, a Nigerian citizen, Sunday Nana,
agreed to rent his backyard to an Italian businessman, Gianfranco
Raffaelli, for approximately $100 a month. The property then
was used for the storage of 8,000 drums of hazardous wastes,
including highly toxic PCBs.
The wastes were exported from Pisa and other Italian ports. The
Koko waste disposal scheme was masterminded by Raffaelli and
Renato Pent, who control the waste broker firms of Ecomar and
Jelly Wax, respectively. The receiving firm was Nana’s Iruekpen
Construction Company. The wastes were imported as substances
“relating to the building trade,” and as “residual and allied
chemicals.”
The leaking, randomly stacked barrels of wastes discovered in
Koko had labels with the names of the following companies:
Dyno-Cyanamid (Norway)
Elma (Italy)
Euro-Citrus ( Netherlands)
ICI (Italy)
Lanvik Pigmentfabrikk (Norway)
PPG (Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.)
Varn Products Ltd. (U.K.)
Five shipments occurred, totaling 4,330 tons, using the following
vessels:
August 26, 1987 (MV Baruluck) -- 1,800 tons.
Sept. 21, 1987 (MV Danix, Danish vessel) -- 187 tons.
Nov. 19, 1987 (MV Line, West German vessel) -- 487 tons.
March 15, 1988 (MV Line) -- 900 tons.
April 28, 1988 (MV Juergen Vesta Denise) -- 700 tons.
In early June, in response to the dumping, Nigeria recalled its
ambassador from Italy and seized an Italian freighter, the Piave,
which was not involved in waste trade, in order to pressure Italy
to remove the wastes.
On July 26, 1988, Nigeria released the Piave and its 24-member
crew. The owners of the Piave are demanding USD 1 million in
compensation from the Italian government. As the Koko scandal
broke, Raffaelli fled Nigeria, but an Italian employee of Iruekpen
Construction, Desiderio Perazzi, and at least 54 others involved
in the scandal were jailed by the Nigerian government.
On July 17, 1988, the Italian government agreed to direct the
removal of the wastes from Nigeria and return them to Italy.
Over 150 Nigerian workers, most from the Nigerian Port
Authority, were employed in the removal of the wastes. The
Nigerian government provided mechanical equipment, protective
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