Oil-trading firm to offers to pay $48.7 million in Ivory Coast pollution case

The United Nations says the 2006 dumping in Ivory Coast killed 15 people and sickened about 100,000 others.

Trafigura is offering $1,536 (or 950 British pounds) per person to settle a lawsuit stemming from the dumping of 500 tons of toxic waste off Ivory Coast, or Cote d'Ivoire, a company spokeswoman said Monday.

The law firm representing the claimants has said in the past it represents up to 30,000 people, making the settlement potentially worth about $46 million.

A judge still must approve the deal before it becomes final. The Trafigura spokeswoman, Alex Nelless of the public relations firm Bell Pottinger, said she did not know if a court date had been set.

The Dutch-based company does not admit liability in the settlement and aggressively fought the suit.

It threatened to sue media outlets, including the BBC, for its reporting of the case.