On 19 August 2006, the ship Probo Koala off-loaded 528 cubic meters of liquid wastes in the port of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The material was transferred onto tanker trucks operated by a local contractor, and dumped in twelve different locations around the city. In June 2012, UN Environment received a formal request from the Government of Côte d’Ivoire to undertake an independent and scientific environmental audit of the sites that were impacted by the dumping of wastes of the Probo Koala.
The Government wished for UN Environment to determine whether the sites continued to pose risks for the environment or for public health, and to make recommendations about additional or corrective clean-up measures that would need to be carried out in case contamination was detected.

This guide is intended for use by anyone concerned with environmental, and related, impacts occurring in a post-disaster situation. It should be of particular relevance to those interested in ensuring that environmental issues are taken into account from the earliest possible moment of planning for early recovery.

The report represents the best available understanding of what has happened to the environment of Ogoniland – and the corresponding implications for affected populations – and provides clear operational guidance as to how that legacy can be addressed. This executive summary presents a summary of the report’s key findings and recommendations.

This fact sheet is part of a series prepared as part of the Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It provides the observations and results from one of the individual sites studied in detail, plus the specific risk reduction measures for follow-up action.
This fact sheet should be read in conjunction with the main assessment report.