Dynamic Business Law, 4th Edition:
Bram Van Leuven, Port Administrator of the Amsterdam Port in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, has a decision to make regarding waste in a tanker, the Probo Koala.
Yesterday, a tanker, the Probo Koala, leased by Trafigura, an oil trading company based in the Netherlands, attempted to unload 250 tons of petrochemical products in the Amsterdam port. Trafigura indicated that the waste consisted of "regular slops," wash water from a ship's holds, which is normally laced with oil, gas, caustic soda, and other chemicals.
When Amsterdam port workers started pumping out the tanker, they alerted Port Administrator Bram Van Leuven, letting him know that the liquid in the ship's hold was not the kind the port usually accepts-it was thicker than normal and smelled especially foul. The workers wanted to make Van Leuven aware of the hazardous waste, and that they did not want to pump it out or handle it in any way.
Van Leuven immediately went to the Probo Koala site, and investigated the petrochemicals in the Probo Koala's hold. He knew immediately that that the agreed-upon price for pumping out the tanker and accepting the waste, approximately $15,000, was not enough for safe disposal in Europe. Van Leuven contacted officials at Trafigura, letting them know the charge for pumping out the tanker and disposing of the waste safely would be approximately $300,000.
Trafigura officials have balked at Van Leuven's new price. They have decided that the Probo Koala will move on, to an undetermined location, to unload the 250 tons of petrochemical products at a lower price.
Van Leuven is in a quandary. He has no idea where Trafigura plans to send the Probo Koala. Should he notify other ports about the waste, and his suspicions that the waste is something more toxic than "regular slops?" Should he start taking action to stop the Probo Koala from leaving the Amsterdam port without a plan for how the waste will be handled? Should he mind his own business, and allow Trafigura to make its own decision about where to send the tanker?