The long-running class action brought by 30,000 claimants against oil company Trafigura has settled for £30m.

The settlement, approved by Mr Justice MacDuff yesterday (23 September) will see the claimants, represented by Leigh Day & Co, receive £950 each. The class action claimed that they were poisoned by 'slops' – toxic waste dumped near Abidjan, Ivory Coast in 2006.

Commodities trading company Trafigura, represented by Macfarlanes head of contentious construction and engineering Simon Nurney, said that it regretted the incident but did not accept legal liability because the dumping was carried out by a ship contractor which had acted independently of Trafigura.

Under the terms of the settlement, both sides have agreed that, at worst, the slops could have caused a range of short-term, low-level flu-like symptoms and anxiety.

In May, allegations were made on the BBC's Newsnight programme that Macfarlanes had improperly handled its involvement in the lawsuit by attempting to persuade key witnesses in the trial to change their statements – allegations Macfarlanes rejected.

Leigh Day has now removed comments from its website alleging that the 'slops' had caused a number of deaths and miscarriages. By doing so, Trafigura has dropped its libel claim against the firm.

Leigh Day also withdrew allegations that there has been impropriety on the part of Trafigura and Macfarlanes in investigating the claims.

Trafigura's lawsuit against the BBC, filed in response to the Newsnight allegations, is set to continue. The company is being represented by Carter Ruck.

Macfarlanes on the Legal Week Wiki