TRAFIGURA
An article (Big profits from a very dirty business encourages corruption and broken treaties, News, July 18) referred to a serious incident of waste dumping in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast in 2006. The waste was from a vessel chartered by Trafigura, a multinational oil company, but the dumping was carried out illegally without Trafigura’s knowledge by an independent local contractor. Trafigura have always disputed that the dumping caused, or could have caused, the deaths and serious injuries referred to in the article and are defending the personal injury action being brought against them in the High Court in London. We are happy to put the record straight.