UNDAC Mission

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UNDAC Mission

• Port of Djibouti
• Toxic chemical spill
• March 2002

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Djibouti

• Country bordered by Eritrea, Ethiopia and
  Somalia.
  
• Population is approx. 500,000
• The Port is the economic centre of the country,
  and the most important port in the Horn of
  Africa
  

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The Incident

• A chemical spill of chromated copper arsenate
  (CCA) from a total of fifteen sea containers
  representing 200 tonnes of product
  
• CCA is a highly corrosive and toxic wood
  preservative / fungicide
  
• 10 containers arrived in the port on 15 November
  and discovered leaking on 9 January
  
• An additional five leaking containers arrived on
  24 January

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Incident Details

• Containers shipped from the UK destined for
  Ethiopia
  
• Offloaded from a ship in the port of Djibouti for
  subsequent transport to Ethiopia by road
  
• Initial efforts to secure the manage the leak
  resulted in the contamination of five separate
  sites in the port area
  
• Fortunately, only small quantities of product
  were lost to the sea, causing negligible impacts

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Port Area
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Humanitarian Concerns -Public Health

• As many as 500 claim to have been exposed to the
  product
  
• There has been at least one death, though a
  direct link to chemical exposure has yet to be
  established
  
• Concerns regarding contamination of foodstuffs
  and exposure of employees at WFP warehouse
  
• Fear about drinking bottled water and Coca Cola
  from nearby facility
  

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Environmental Concerns

• Five contaminated sites could result in
  groundwater contamination and impacts to marine
  environment
  
• Chronic exposure to dust can cause longer term
  health and environmental impacts
  
• Rains (which sometimes occur in early April) will
  severely widen the area of impact
  

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Steps Taken

• An FAO expert was brought in to conduct an
  assessment in early February
  
• Subsequent to the FAO report, the port authority
  implemented a number of recommendations
  

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Steps Taken

• As per FAO recommendations
• Evacuation of all equipment at site 5 (other
  than trucks and leaking containers)
  
• Construction of a fence around site 5
• Installation of polyethylene sheeting covered
  with sand to cover leak and contain further
  leakage at sites 2, 3 and 5
  
• Construction of steel trays for leaking containers

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The UNDAC Mission

• The mission was organized by OCHA with support
  from the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environmental
  Emergencies Section
  
• The team was composed 2 OCHA Geneva, 1 UNEP staff
  member (from the Joint Unit) and 1 member from
  OCHA field office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  
• The team was later joined by a Swiss
  ecotoxicology expert

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The Role of the Team

• Assess humanitarian impacts from spill
• Follow-up assessments of sites further to the
  implementation of the FAO experts
  recommendations
  
• Overall coordination in the wake of the countrys
  appeal for international assistance
  
• Recommendations on immediate response to the
  leaking containers and remediation of
  contaminated sites
  

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Assessment Process

• Multiple visits to all five sites
• Extensive interviews with the port management and
  staff
  
• Meetings with Djiboutian national authorities
• Coordination and cooperation with the UN country
  team
  

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Port of Djibouti
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Findings

• The port had implemented virtually all FAO
  recommendations in order to secure the situation
  
• Though contained, the product was still leaking
  heavily
  
• In spite of efforts, there was still widespread
  panic within the community with respect to health
  risks.
  

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Findings

• Djibouti did not have the technical expertise to
  manage the situation beyond what had been already
  undertaken
  
• Consequently, the team requested the assistance
  of an ecotoxicologist / waste management
  specialist from Geneva to assist
  
• Sites 1,25 - heavy contamination requiring
  immediate attention
  
• Sites 34 - stable with some protective measures
  recommended
  

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Site 1 - Hazardous Cargo Container Area
Green stains show clear evidence of
contamination from CCA at site 1 where containers
were stored from 15 November to 9 January
??
View of contaminated area from opposite
end
??
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Site 2 - Leaking container area

• Staining from CCA and contamination from
  other hazardous chemicals at site 2

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Site 2 - Leaking container area
Application of sand to contaminated areas of
site 2
??
Evidence of severe contamination from CCA
??
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Site 5 - Isolation Zone

• Five trucks containing 10 leaking containers

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Site 5 - Isolation Zone
Product creeping from under plastic sheeting
several metres away from trucks
??
Close up of leaking product pooling
under trucks
??
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Site 5-Container in Steel Tray
View of one container in a steel tray constructed
by the port to contain the leaking product
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Conclusions

• Djibouti has virtually no capacity to respond to
  hazardous materials occurrences
  
• Port was very proactive in taking necessary
  actions to secure the situation.
  
• Overall lack of prevention, preparedness and
  awareness
  
• Weak disaster management capacity at
  local/national level
  

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Conclusions

• Poor risk communications resulting in continued
  panic and rumors in the community
  
• Several good contingency plans exist but were not
  activated
  

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Recommendations

• Immediate (as outlined in Action Plan)
• Stop leaks at site 5
• Transfer product to new containers
• Address contamination at sites 1,2 5
• Relocate and establish proper leaking hazardous
  cargo area - currently site 2
  
• Establish a destocking zone to accommodate
  contaminated waste soil

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Recommendations

• Medium to Long Term
• Decontamination of non-urgent sites
• Contingency plans should be updated, disseminated
  and tested
  
• Need for training and proper equipment for
  handling and responding to hazmat incidents
  
• Develop a legal framework for handling and
  transportation of dangerous goods with Djibouti
  

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Recommendations

• Update port procedures so that future leaks are
  addressed in situ (preventing contamination of
  multiples sites)
  
• Routine inspection of hazardous cargo area at
  port for early identification of leaks

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Needs Covered

• Protective equipment (Canton de Genève)
• Antidotes for for arsenic poisoning (Hôpital
  Cantonal de Genève)
  
• Construction of destocking zone for contaminated
  soil and waste (UNDP/OCHA)

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Needs Still to be Covered

• Expert Hazmat team (with appropriate personal
  protective equipment) for transfer operations.
  
• Overpack drums to accommodate leaking containers.

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