space Press Releases, News Stories

Martin Mittelstaedt, The Globe and Mail

Canada has become a North American trash can for hazardous waste, says a report that concludes that U.S.  companies are using this country to avoid the cost of complying with their own, more rigorous environmental rules.

The report, one of the first comprehensive efforts to track hazardous-waste movements among Canada, the United States and Mexico, was prepared by the Texas Center for Policy Studies.  It concludes that Canada has become a North American pollution haven for dangerous wastes.

Pollution havens are jurisdictions that try to gain short-term economic advantage by using weak environmental rules to attract industry.

The United States has the toughest hazardous-waste rules in North America.  Mexico bans imports of dangerous substances for disposal in dumps, although it does accept such material for recycling.  That leaves Canada with the weakest rules, on paper at least.

"What we are seeing is a fairly classic pollution-haven effect," said Mark Winfield, an Ottawa-based Canadian environmental expert and one of the report's co-authors.  "U.S.  wastes are being brought to Canada because they can be disposed more cheaply and more easily than is the case south of the border."

The report says that Canadian hazardous-waste imports, almost all of which are from the United States, have soared fivefold from 1993 to 1999, the latest year for which figures are available.

Most of the waste is destined for Quebec, which at more than 330,000 tonnes in 1999 leads the other provinces, or Ontario, which follows closely behind with 324,000 tonnes.

Minor amounts were accepted by Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, and New Brunswick.

Canada accepts more than twice as much U.S.  hazardous waste as does Mexico, according to the report.
The study investigated common theories for the boom in U.S.  shipments into Canada, such as the lower value of the Canadian dollar giving Canadian hazardous-waste companies a currency price advantage.
It also checked whether U.S.  generation of hazardous wastes in the border region with Canada was growing, requiring more disposal of toxic material.

However, it found that shipments to Canada didn't follow the value of the dollar and that the amount of hazardous waste created by companies in major border states is actually falling, indicating less need for disposal services in nearby Canada.  U.S.  shipments to Canada began to skyrocket in 1994 when the U.S.  introduced tough treatment standards for dumping hazardous waste.

Canada allows open-pit dumping of untreated hazardous waste, but the United States requires that such material be processed to reduce its toxicity before disposal.

Some Canadian companies that treat hazardous waste have lobbied the federal government for similar rules, but to no avail.

"It does lead us back very firmly to the conclusion that the reason that U.S.  hazardous wastes are being exported to Canada for disposal is because the standards here are weaker," Mr.  Winfield said.

The main type of hazardous wastes being imported into Canada are the dangerous compounds caught in U.S.  pollution control devices, such as heavy metals, solvents, and sludges.  Hazardous wastes include materials that are toxic, cause cancer or may explode.

In the U.S., companies that generate hazardous waste may remain liable for them, even after they ship the material away for disposal.

Mr.  Winfield speculated that some of the attraction of Canada as a U.S.  dumping ground may arise because companies believe their legal liability for hazardous waste stops at the border.

Mr.  Winfield said allowing big U.S.  hazardous waste imports could potentially be costly if these materials leak from dumps or are disposed of improperly.

He said clean-up costs, if they occur, will likely have to be shouldered by taxpayers because of the high expense of remediating contaminated sites.

When U.S.  companies want to ship hazardous waste to Canada, they seek clearance from the federal government, which in turn asks the province where the waste is destined to go if it is willing to accept the material.

The report notes that Ontario's environment minister waived the province's right of prior informed consent on waste shipments from 1997 to 1999.  Ontario ended this lax practice after one landfill started accepting U.S.  hazardous waste in a dump not licenced for this material.

"Ontario said: 'Don't bother to ask us; we'll accept anything,'" Mr.  Winfield said of the province's position.
Because Canada doesn't require as much treatment of hazardous waste as would be required in the United States, Canadian disposal companies can offer attractive prices to U.S.  generators.

"Although specific data on waste disposal pricing is difficult to obtain, it has been suggested anecdotally that .  .  .  costs in Canada may be between one-half and one-tenth those in the U.S.  This is thought to be due to higher U.S.  treatment standards," the report said.

The report says Mexico has tough environmental rules on paper, but expressed concern that the regulations are not well enforced.  The report said all three countries could do a better job of tracking the hazardous waste they produce.

The 110-page report, titled The Generation and Management of Hazardous Wastes and Transboundary Hazardous Waste Shipments between Mexico, Canada and the United States, is available on the Internet at http://www.texascenter.org.