In Côte d’Ivoire, an oil spill occurred last weekend off the coast near Abidjan. Nearly 8 km of beaches, between Modeste and Grand-Bassam—popular tourist areas—were polluted after a leak appeared on a hose connected to Buoy 2 of the Ivorian Refining Company (SIR). Since December 30, teams from the Ministry of Environment have been on-site to clean up the beaches.
On Modeste Beach, dozens of experts, armed with shovels and rakes, are collecting contaminated debris, including plastic bottles soaked with petroleum products and hydrocarbon waste mixed with sand. Among them is Inspector Germain Eba, Deputy Director of the Marine Pollution Response Unit at the Ivorian Anti-Pollution Center (CIAPOL). He explained, “We will first recover the oil slick roughly from the sand. Then, we will carry out a fine cleanup, treating everything that has penetrated the sand.”
The contaminated sand is then processed to extract the oil. Henri Saoué, director of Ivos, a company specializing in waste treatment, detailed the procedure: “The bags contain a high concentration of oil. We will place them in our pyrolysis unit—a large pressure cooker. The sand-oil mixture is heated to about 600°C, causing the oil to evaporate. It passes through condensation pipes, and the oil is recovered.”
In total, nearly 200 people are mobilized to clean the beaches. Swimming and fishing are prohibited to avoid contamination risks, although some local restaurateurs, like Adama, express concern for their income: “If we close now, how will we eat? How will we pay our employees? There are at least 10 people working here.”
After the cleanup, CIAPOL plans to conduct further analyses to assess the environmental impact of the incident. While much of the oil has been removed from the sand, the odor still lingers in the area.
The spill originated from an accidental leak on the hose of Buoy 2 at SIR, occurring on the evening of Saturday, December 27. According to CIAPOL, nearly seven cubic meters of hydrocarbons were released into the sea.
The Ministry of Environment has installed floating barriers to contain the spill, and an emergency response system is in place. Risks have been contained, according to the ministry’s Chief of Staff. However, the beaches will remain closed to the public for at least a week.