A Dutch court Friday upheld a $1.3 million criminal fine for oil trading company Trafigura in the Amsterdam part of a hazardous waste drama that allegedly left 15 people dead and sickened thousands more in Ivory Coast in 2006. The Amsterdam Appeals Court judgment reinforces a 2010 lower court ruling that found the company illegally instructed the ship Probo Koala to leave the Netherlands with toxic waste in July 2006 after deciding it would be cheaper to dispose of it elsewhere. The company denies any wrongdoing in the actual dumping, saying it paid a local contractor in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to dispose of the waste and wasn't responsible for it being dumped at sites around the city. It also claims the waste wasn't highly toxic anyway.