2006年VOA标准英语-Ivory Coast Toxic Waste Cleanup Nears End

By Joe Bavier
Abidjan
28 October 2006
 
More than two months after hundreds of thousands of liters of toxic¹ waste were dumped in Ivory Coast's main city, a massive cleanup operation is nearing completion. 

		hazardous2 black sludge from a garbage dump in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2006" src="/upimg/allimg/070505/1510530.jpg" width="210" border="0" /> Waste removal experts work to remove hazardous black sludge from a garbage dump in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2006

Inside the cavernous cargo³ hold of the MN Toucan⁴, moored⁵ dockside at Ivory Coast's main port in Abidjan, dozens of 24,000 liter tanks stand end to end, each marked with a skull⁶ and crossbones and a chemical hazard warning.

The chemicals are blamed for 10 deaths, more than 100,000 visits to doctors, and the fall of the Ivorian government last month.

Alwin Booij is managing director of Tredi International, the French waste disposal company contracted to handle the cleanup.

"We do these kinds of operations all around the world, but this is big and it's very high profile," he said.

So far, Booij says his teams have removed more than 6,000 tons of contaminated soil and toxic liquids from 18 sites around Abidjan, a city of around five million inhabitants. The 141 tanks aboard the MN Toucan constitute only the first of an expected four shipments.

But though cleanup operations are drawing to a close, the removal of the toxic waste from Abidjan's neighborhoods has done little to bring clarity or closure to the affair.

On August 19, the Probo Koala, a Panamanian-registered tanker⁷ ship chartered by Dutch-based commodities trader Trafigura, began offloading around 520,000 liters of liquid chemicals at the port of Abidjan.  The disposal of the waste was contracted to Companie Tommy, an Ivorian firm that had obtained its operating permit just weeks earlier.

The chemicals were pumped into tanker trucks owned by Tommy, transported to different parts of the city at night, and dumped into drainage ditches, landfills, or simply on the ground.

Shortly afterward⁸, city residents started showing up at understaffed hospitals by the hundreds, then by the thousands, complaining of persistent⁹ headaches, nosebleeds, and respiratory and digestive problems.
        
A perceived lack of action on the part of Ivory Coast's government led to street protests in Abidjan that forced the resignation of Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny's cabinet September 6.

Today, Ivorian authorities are carrying out no fewer than five inquiries¹⁰ into the affair. Two top Trafigura executives are among ten men currently being held in an Abidjan prison pending¹¹ the results of a criminal inquiry¹².  And police in the Netherlands are looking into an attempt by the Probo Koala to offload its cargo in Amsterdam in July.

The Ivorian government is also seeking compensation for cleanup costs, which are likely to run well into the millions. 

"It's going to be quite a big amount, of course," noted¹³ Alwin Booij of the French waste disposal company. "We're talking about 6,000 tons of very hazardous waste to repack, transport and incinerate. There are big bucks¹⁴ involved."

A team of lawyers has been assembled to look into options for pursuing civil cases against those deemed responsible in the case. This week, a lawyer in the Netherlands, claiming to represent around 1,000 Ivorian victims, threatened to sue Trafigura if it did not pay a preliminary settlement of $12.5 million within two weeks.

Trafigura, for its part, disputes test results indicating the highly toxic nature of the waste and claims the ships contents could not have caused the deaths and widespread illness in Abidjan.

Though various investigations¹⁵ are under way, Ivorian officials have, so far, offered little information concerning the exact nature of the dangerous chemicals.

And so, many in Abidjan remain fearful of the long-term effects of their exposure.

Liberian refugee Towenda Kpuie lives 20 meters from Abidjan's Akouedo landfill, one of the places where the toxic waste was dumped.  He says he immediately felt the effects of the dangerous chemicals. And he says that the Ivorian authorities have done little to allay¹⁶ his worries that his home may no longer be safe to live in. 

"I want to move, because my life is important," he said.  "[The toxic waste] is dangerous to my life. So, whether they are cleaning it up or not, I want to move."

The MN Toucan and its poisonous cargo left Abidjan late Friday night, bound for Le Havre, France. From there the tanks containing the chemicals will be transported to an incinerating facility outside Lyon for treatment and disposal.

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 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。

3 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

4 toucan   

n.巨嘴鸟，犀鸟

参考例句：

• A toucan is a South American bird.巨嘴鸟是北美的一种鸟。
• There is a toucan in this zoo.这个动物园有一只巨嘴鸟。

5 moored   

adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London. 该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。
• We shipped (the) oars and moored alongside the bank. 我们收起桨，把船泊在岸边。

6 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

7 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

8 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

9 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

10 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

12 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

13 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。

14 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

16 allay   

v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)

参考例句：

• The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧，但是没有收到什么效果。
• They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。