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ACCORD SIGNED TO SHIP TAIWANESE WASTE OUT OF CAMBODIA IN TWO MONTHS

Agence France Presse

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, 25 February 1999 -- Petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics Corp. (FPC) Thursday signed an agreement guaranteeing it would remove allegedly toxic waste from Cambodia that sparked an environmental scare, officials said. The agreement signed by the Taiwanese company and Cambodian officials also makes Formosa responsible for the treatment of Cambodian citizens suffering effects from exposure to the waste. "Both parties today have reached an agreement in which FPC has to take responsibility on repackaging, sites cleanup, and transportation of the wastes out of Cambodia," Om Yim Tieng, an advisor to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, said in a statement.

He also told reporters the removal and cleanup operation would likely cost FPC some two million dollars. The agreement, a copy of which was sent to AFP, said the mercury contaminated waste would be shipped out of the country within 60 days or a fine of 1,000 dollars for every extra day would be levied.

The waste, identified in the agreement as "concrete brine sludge contaminated with mercury," is in a suburb of the seaside town of Sihanoukville, where according to the statement it was improperly disposed of. Formosa Plastics, which insists the waste is not toxic, said on January 3 it would probably be shipped to the United States or Europe for processing. The waste has been packed into containers to await transportation, but the waste site remains covered in grey debris and witnesses say locals including children pass by it unprotected.

The 2,700 tonnes of industrial waste, which Cambodian authorities alleged was contaminated with toxic levels of mercury, was shipped to the port town of Sihanoukville in late November.

After two deaths that were reportedly linked to the consignment, rioting broke out in which the home of the governor was gutted and local government offices were ransacked.

Taiwanese authorities ordered Formosa to recover the waste after tests by a local environment group showed last month it contained 0.284 parts per million of mercury, surpassing safety levels of 0.22 ppm.

Tests carried out by a Japanese expert assigned by the World Health Organization has shown the waste contained harzardous levels of mercury.

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