Waste caused public health emergency

The BBC has given an apology on Newsnight for one aspect of its reporting on Trafigura.  The BBC withdrew the claim that waste dumped by Trafigura in west Africa caused deaths and serious injuries. 

If you saw the apology on the Newsnight programme but had not followed the story you might think that Trafigura had done nothing dangerous.  However the full BBC statement includes criticism of Trafigura for dumping 500 tons of waste illegally and causing a public health emergency in Ivory Coast.  They also point out that Trafigura has agreed to pay compensation to many people in Ivory Coast and to the government of that country.