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CAMBODIA: OFFICIALS FIND TONS OF SUSPECTED TOXIC WASTE

Associated Press
San Francisco Chronicle / Examiner

16 December 1998 -- At least 3,000 tons of what is suspected to be toxic waste last week was found near Cambodia's only seaport, prompting fears among officials that the country is being used as a toxic-waste dump (AP/San Francisco Chronicle / Examiner online, 12/16).

The waste, "a jumble of rubble and dirt," was discovered 110 miles southwest of Phnom Penh near a "major" national park (Agence France Presse, 12/15). After local scavengers suffered from skin rashes, the local media suggested that the waste could be the compressed ashes from an industrial toxic-waste incinerator.

A customs invoice identifies the importer as a local company, but the company has not yet been located. Cambodian Environment Minister Mok Mareth: "Toxic or non-toxic, the company has violated the law because waste is prohibited to come into Cambodia...they must be punished."

The Cambodian Environment Ministry has asked experts from the UN Development Program to analyze the material.

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