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

U.S. hazardous wastes created a furor in 1980. The Coloradobased
firm offered to pay “up to $25 million” a year to the
government of Sierra Leone. The wastes, described as all forms
of hazardous waste except radioactive waste would have been
shipped through the port of Pepal and brought inland by an
existing rail line.
Sierra Leonean students in the U.S. picketed against the project
and both Nedlog and the Sierra Leone embassy to the U.S.
received threatening phone calls and bomb scares. Sierra
Leonean President Shiaka Stevens eventually rejected the
proposed dumping scheme in 1980.
The president of Nedlog, James Wolfe, said his company would
pursue the plan with other African countries. Nedlog was formed
in 1977 with assistance from the Roldiva Corp., a Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, U.S.-based firm. 184
For information on a related scheme, please see Chile.
Scheme: Dumba International
Date: 1988
Type of Waste: Hazardous
Source: U.K.
Exporter: Larry Spencer Hicks, Dumba International,
Birmingham, U.K.
Pretext/Fate: “Construction Material”
Status: Actual
In early July 1988, the government of Sierra Leone launched an
investigation after 625 bags containing hazardous wastes from
the U.K. were discovered near the capital of Freetown. The
wastes were dumped in a garbage dump called Bomeh. Police
claim that the wastes were illegally shipped to Sierra Leone in
September 1987. On July 8, police arrested Minette Golley, the
wife of a high-ranking judge in Sierra Leone and a Lebanese
businessman, in connection with the waste dumping.
According to Golley, the bags contain road construction
materialimported from Europe that was dumped because it was
poor quality.
According to Sierra Leonean press reports, the dumping deal was
masterminded by British businessman, Larry Spencer Hicks, who
was representing a firm called Dumba International of
Birmingham. In addition to the original 625 bags of waste,
another 20 bags, imported with false papers, were discovered
while still aboard a ship in Freetown Harbor.
184Environmental Report on Central America Report, August 7, 1987; Christopher McLeod, “Dumping for Dollars,” Science for the People, September/October, 1980; Pollution
Probe, July-August, 1980; Bill Richards, “U.S. Fights Export of Hazardous Waste,” Washington Post, January 26, 1980.
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