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Environment News Service (ENS)

Three-thousand tonnes of Taiwanese toxic wastes produced by transnational petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics was dumped in the Cambodian port town of Sihanoukville late last year.

Sihanoukville, on the coast near the Vietnamese border, is Cambodia's premium beach resort and one of the country's two main ports.

The waste, thought to be compressed industrial ash, passed without notice through Sihanoukville on November 30, 1998. It was found by officials a few weeks later in an open dump six miles outside the town.

Tests conducted on the waste found extremely high levels of toxic mercury. The environmentalists said that tests for other hazadous chemicals, such as dioxin, have not been done.

The dumping incident is reported to have left seven dead due to both the immediate effects of the hazardous wastes as well as the public reaction that followed - a riot and mass exodus of an estimated 10,000 people.

Three Cambodian government officials have been charged in connection with the dumping. Two customs officials and a port inspector were accused of causing damage to life, property and the environment.

Port of Sihanoukville

Neither Taiwan nor Cambodia are parties to the "Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal" and as such were left extremely vulnerable to waste traffickers, according to the Basel Action Network (BAN), an international toxic waste watchdog alliance.

While Friday's agreement provides for the clean-up and removal of the hazardous waste from Cambodian soil within 60 days, under the supervision of an expert consultant, environmentalists object that it includes language in which Formosa Plastics places blame for their illegal actions on the shipping company and local importer. The language implies that Formosa had no responsibility to inquire where the waste was to be taken or how it was to be disposed.

Taiwanese environmental law required Formosa to have this information before approval could be given to export the hazardous waste, legal advocates say.

The deal does not call for Formosa Plastics to compensate either victims nor the Cambodian government for damages and injuries that have resulted, or will result from the toxic dumping. During the negotiations and now formalized in the agreement, Formosa Plastics insisted that they provide medical care to the victims.

"This only adds insult to injury" said Michele Brandt, legal consultant to Legal Aid of Cambodia (LAC). "For the victims to make a choice between trusting their medical care to the very company that poisoned them or to go without medical assistance is a very cruel choice indeed."

Two people died after being in close contact with the waste, following symptoms consistent with mercury poisoning. At least four others died and property was destroyed during a riot and panicked exodus after the word spread about the initial deaths. Many other residents who took bags containing the waste experienced poisoning symptoms.

There is likely to be significant ground water contamination in the vicinity of the dump. Already the World Health Organization reported that elevated levels of mercury were found in one well near the site.

"While the Cambodian government claims that they will later seek compensation," said Jim Puckett of BAN, "we fear that once the wastes are put back on a ship, and sail away, Formosa Plastics will conveniently disappear as well, and might refuse to return to the bargaining table to compensate Cambodians for their criminal act."

The activists believe that Formosa Plastics must pay for a thorough independent assessment of the damages and injuries that occurred due to their illegal export. Then, following the outcome of that report, Formosa must be held liable for any damages and be prepared to pay compensation to the victims.

"It is our view that unless Formosa Plastics is held liable for the damage and injury caused by this despicable act, they will be getting away with murder," said Von Hernandez of Greenpeace International. "Formosa Plastics must be held to the negotiating table until they show a willingness to protect the people of Cambodia - not just their public image."

Over 100 countries have already banned the import of hazardous wastes. And in Asia, all coastal countries except Taiwan, North Korea and Cambodia have joined the Basel Convention.

The Basel Action Network called on Taiwan and Cambodia and all other countries that have not yet done so, to ratify the Basel Convention and its recently adopted amendment banning the most abusive forms of toxic waste trafficking.