VOA标准英语2009年-Greenpeace Seeks Criminal Charges in Ivory
时间：2019-02-12 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2009年(九月)
By Lisa Bryant
Paris
17 September 2009
The environmental group Greenpeace says it wants Dutch prosecutors 1 to consider criminal charges against executives from international oil trading company Trafigura in connection with toxic 2 waste dumped in Ivory Coast in 2006. Wednesday, Trafigura announced it would offer compensation to thousands of victims of the toxic dumping, which is blamed for the deaths of at least 15 people.
A man points to an open drain where toxic waste was dumped, in an industrial zone of Abidjan
Greenpeace says it has new evidence, including internal e-mails and documents, suggesting Trafigura executives knew sludge dumped in Ivory Coast in 2006 was dangerous.
The sludge had been on a ship called Probo Koala, which had been chartered by Trafigura. An Ivorian company contracted by Trafigura dumped the waste illegally near Abidjan.
Toxic-waste campaigner for Greenpeace Netherlands, Marietta Harjono, says the environmental group wants Dutch prosecutors to consider criminal charges against Trafigura executives.
"The new information we have collected together with a group of people shows that the director of Trafigura as well as several employees knew for a long time that the waste they would be producing on the Probo Koala would be very toxic," she said. "They also knew that this waste was forbidden to be exported from Europe to an African country. They also knew there were only a few facilities that could handle the waste in a proper way. But even with all this knowledge, they decided 3 to circumvent 4 the law and to go ahead and dump the toxic waste in a poor country."
The waste was blamed for the deaths of at least 15 people, while tens of thousands of others were apparently 5 sickened by it.
Trafigura has denied doing anything wrong, a stance it has maintained following these latest allegations. But it said Wednesday it would offer compensation to more than 30,000 victims of the Abidjan dumping.
Harjono says if the Dutch justice system accepts to hear the case, Greenpeace hopes it will set a precedent 6 to ensure other companies are prosecuted 7 for dumping hazardous 8 waste.
- In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
- You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。
- The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
- There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。
- This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
- There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
- Military planners tried to circumvent the treaty.军事策略家们企图绕开这一条约。
- Any action I took to circumvent his scheme was justified.我为斗赢他的如意算盘而采取的任何行动都是正当的。
- An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
- He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
- Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
- This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。
- The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
- The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。