Toxic waste dumping behind Somali piracy

RolandTD20Kdrummer

I think I suddenly feel ill...

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2008/10/2008109174223218644.html

"Somali pirates have accused European firms of dumping toxic waste off the Somali coast and are demanding an $8m ransom for the return of a Ukranian ship they captured, saying the money will go towards cleaning up the waste.

The ransom demand is a means of "reacting to the toxic waste that has been continually dumped on the shores of our country for nearly 20 years", Januna Ali Jama, a spokesman for the pirates, based in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, said.

"The Somali coastline has been destroyed, and we believe this money is nothing compared to the devastation that we have seen on the seas."

The pirates are holding the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks and military hardware, off Somalia's northern coast.

According to the International Maritime Bureau, 61 attacks by pirates have been reported since the start of the year.

While money is the primary objective of the hijackings, claims of the continued environmental destruction off Somalia's coast have been largely ignored by the regions's maritime authorities.

Allegations of the dumping of toxic waste, as well as illegal fishing, have circulated since the early 1990s.

But evidence of such practices literally appeared on the beaches of northern Somalia when the tsunami of 2004 hit the country.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reported the tsunami had washed up rusting containers of toxic waste on the shores of Puntland.

Nick Nuttall, a UNEP spokesman, told Al Jazeera that when the barrels were smashed open by the force of the waves, the containers exposed a "frightening activity" that has been going on for more than decade.

"Somalia has been used as a dumping ground for hazardous waste starting in the early 1990s, and continuing through the civil war there," he said.

"European companies found it to be very cheap to get rid of the waste, costing as little as $2.50 a tonne, where waste disposal costs in Europe are something like $1000 a tonne.

"And the waste is many different kinds. There is uranium radioactive waste. There is lead, and heavy metals like cadmium and mercury. There is also industrial waste, and there are hospital wastes, chemical wastes – you name it."

Nuttall also said that since the containers came ashore, hundreds of residents have fallen ill, suffering from mouth and abdominal bleeding, skin infections and other ailments."

cont'd...

catefrances

if this is the legitimate reasoning behind the pirates actions then i am on their side.

aaaarrrrrrrrrrr.

mickeyrat

since Tsunamis are essentially waves on the BOTTOM of the ocean that travel for THOUSANDS of miles, there is absolutely no way to tell WHERE this shit was dumped to begin with.

And it is possible that at least some of this stuff was washed overboard from ships during bad storms or extremely rough seas.


Many of these Pirates are using the drug Khat(?) while carrying out these hijackings. So I wouldn't exactly trust the word of common drug using thieves.

pearljamfan1212

mickeyrat wrote:

since Tsunamis are essentially waves on the BOTTOM of the ocean that travel for THOUSANDS of miles, there is absolutely no way to tell WHERE this shit was dumped to begin with.

And it is possible that at least some of this stuff was washed overboard from ships during bad storms or extremely rough seas.


Many of these Pirates are using the drug Khat(?) while carrying out these hijackings. So I wouldn't exactly trust the word of common drug using thieves.

if you cant trust a drug addicted ak-47 lovin pirate, who can ya trust?

Byrnzie

pearljamfan1212 wrote:

if you cant trust a drug addicted ak-47 lovin pirate, who can ya trust?

George W Bush? Donald Rumsfeld? A T.V and burger obsessed M16 lovin' U.S General?

pearljamfan1212

Byrnzie wrote:

George W Bush? Donald Rumsfeld? A T.V and burger obsessed M16 lovin' U.S General?

RolandTD20Kdrummer

mickeyrat wrote:

since Tsunamis are essentially waves on the BOTTOM of the ocean that travel for THOUSANDS of miles, there is absolutely no way to tell WHERE this shit was dumped to begin with.

And it is possible that at least some of this stuff was washed overboard from ships during bad storms or extremely rough seas.


Many of these Pirates are using the drug Khat(?) while carrying out these hijackings. So I wouldn't exactly trust the word of common drug using thieves.

Does it matter where these barrels washed up, or the fact that they did wash up where they did, and people are now ill from it?

OffHeGoes29

Byrnzie wrote:

George W Bush? Donald Rumsfeld? A T.V and burger obsessed M16 lovin' U.S General?

How about General Tso or Capt'n Crunch?

mickeyrat

RolandTD20Kdrummer wrote:

Does it matter where these barrels washed up, or the fact that they did wash up where they did, and people are now ill from it?

Of course it does, but from your OP it makes it appear it was done deliberately and provides the justification for these scumbags to do what they do.
read something the other day day about what they do with some of the money and it had NOTHING to do with cleaning up this environmental mess.

Had more to do with building mansions(comparitively speaking ) and paying down debt accrued to local "Stores" during their "sea duty"

RolandTD20Kdrummer

mickeyrat wrote:

Of course it does, but from your OP it makes it appear it was done deliberately and provides the justification for these scumbags to do what they do.
read something the other day day about what they do with some of the money and it had NOTHING to do with cleaning up this environmental mess.

Had more to do with building mansions(comparitively speaking ) and paying down debt accrued to local "Stores" during their "sea duty"

I think there's a lot more suspicious and illegal dumping going on than what you think there is. I doubt very much this is just a few loose barrels that slipped over the edge of a few odd boats in big waves. It's very possible certain interests are routinely dumping their waste in other peoples back yards, in fact, highly probable.

mickeyrat

RolandTD20Kdrummer wrote:

I think there's a lot more suspicious and illegal dumping going on than what you think there is. I doubt very much this is just a few loose barrels that slipped over the edge of a few odd boats in big waves. It's very possible certain interests are routinely dumping their waste in other peoples back yards, in fact, highly probable.

you are right . sometimes SHIT happens deliberately and by accident . So the solution seems to me to stop makeing the SHIT in the first place. HMM?

It is a fact of Human history that the " strong" will exploit the "weak"

The weak being being those who, by and large, are concerned with where their next meal is coming from.Not what someone else is doing to them.

Having recognized the "problem(s)" we must now start to focus on a solution and then work toward that solution.But first we MUST agree what that solution is.and until that happens , you just continue pointing out the errors and follies of sick people and in NO WAY offer anything toward a solution.

GOOD DAY SIR

exhausted

mickeyrat wrote:

since Tsunamis are essentially waves on the BOTTOM of the ocean that travel for THOUSANDS of miles, there is absolutely no way to tell WHERE this shit was dumped to begin with.

And it is possible that at least some of this stuff was washed overboard from ships during bad storms or extremely rough seas.


Many of these Pirates are using the drug Khat(?) while carrying out these hijackings. So I wouldn't exactly trust the word of common drug using thieves.

waves don't transfer water or the stuff floating in it. currents do though.

RolandTD20Kdrummer

mickeyrat wrote:

you are right . sometimes SHIT happens deliberately and by accident . So the solution seems to me to stop makeing the SHIT in the first place. HMM?

It is a fact of Human history that the " strong" will exploit the "weak"

The weak being being those who, by and large, are concerned with where their next meal is coming from.Not what someone else is doing to them.

Having recognized the "problem(s)" we must now start to focus on a solution and then work toward that solution.But first we MUST agree what that solution is.and until that happens , you just continue pointing out the errors and follies of sick people and in NO WAY offer anything toward a solution.

GOOD DAY SIR

Stop making the shit? Ok stop buying cheap stuff overseas. How's that?

When you're tied up in bureaucracy from head to toe, sometimes you have to break free from the normal routes.

If it brings more attention to a problem that people are getting paid to ignore on purpose, then what are the alternatives really?

Do you think these guys can just go to their gov't officials and say...hey, want we something done about this, and right now?

They're probably laughed at.