space Press Releases, News Stories

by Mary Manning, Las Vegas Sun

The EPA earlier this month prevented the toxic sludge shipment, which has been blamed for two deaths in Cambodia, from going to a hazardous waste site in Westmoreland, Calif., near Los Angeles. Safety-Kleen Corp. had agreed to take the sludge but was stopped after tests showed the contaminated soil "was more complex than originally believed," a company statement said.

Now US Ecology, which operates a hazardous waste dump near Beatty, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, wants to accept the sludge, but the state Division of Environmental Protection wants more information about the waste before it will allow shipments, Administrator Allen Biaggi said.

The EPA will not allow the sludge into the country with its current levels of mercury.

US Ecology says it has the technology to remove the mercury and would do the work in Taiwan before transporting the sludge to its Beatty dump. The recovered mercury, if it could be purified, could be reused overseas.

Company officials have traveled to Taiwan to sample the sludge and contaminated soils, US Ecology Vice President and Manager Zaki Naser said. Shipments to Nevada could begin in three to six months if the state and EPA approve, he said.

US Ecology also once handled low-level radioactive waste at Beatty, but the state closed that operation following an investigation into violations in handling shipments at the dump. Congress decided to set up regional sites to handle that waste.

The EPA declared the sludge violated import standards for a toxic substance -- the mercury -- after a new environmental coalition called Greenaction based in San Francisco uncovered wide-ranging mercury contents in four samples of the sludge.

Greenaction Executive Director Bradley Angel said the coalition would fight any efforts to bring the mercury-laced sludge to the United States.

Formosa Plastics Corp. packed up the solids and cake, returning it to Taiwan on April 1 after the load was illegally dumped a few miles from Cambodia's only seaport at Sihanoukville.

Cambodia's army had to restore order after two workers died, sparking a riot that killed four fleeing villagers.

Formosa apologized to Cambodia but refused to accept responsibility.

Senior Cambodian government officials have alleged that up to $3 million in bribes may have been paid to corrupt import officials to allow the waste into the country, the Los Angeles Times has reported.

More than 100 Cambodian government officials were suspended, and three were charged with endangering human life, property and the environment.