UNDAC Mission

Port of Djibouti

Toxic chemical spill

March 2002

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

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

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

Port Area

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

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

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

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

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

The Role of the Team

• Assess humanitarian impacts from spill

• Follow-up assessments of sites further

to the implementation of the FAO

expert’s recommendations

• Overall coordination in the wake of the

country’s appeal for international

assistance

• Recommendations on immediate

response to the leaking containers and

remediation of contaminated sites

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

Port of Djibouti

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.

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 1,2&5 - heavy contamination

requiring immediate attention

• Sites 3&4 - stable with some protective

measures recommended

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

Site 2 - Leaking container area

Staining from

CCA and

contamination

from other

hazardous

chemicals at site 2

Application of sand

to contaminated areas

of site 2

Evidence of

severe contamination

from CCA

Site 2 - Leaking container area

Site 5 - Isolation Zone

Five trucks

containing 10

leaking

containers

Product

creeping from

under plastic

sheeting several

metres away

from trucks

Close up of

leaking product

pooling under

trucks

Site 5 - Isolation Zone

Site 5-Container in Steel Tray

View of one container in a steel tray constructed

by the port to contain the leaking product

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

Conclusions

• Poor risk communications resulting

in continued panic and rumors in the

community

• Several good contingency plans exist

but were not activated

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

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

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

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)

Needs Still to be Covered

• Expert Hazmat team (with

appropriate personal protective

equipment) for transfer operations.

• Overpack drums to accommodate

leaking containers.