space Press Releases, News Stories

By Mike Dunne, The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality said Tuesday that since the waste is likely mixed and not uniform, greater than normal testing will be required.

Meanwhile, a top Waste Management Inc. official said no decision has been made to send the ash - which has been tested and termed nonhazardous - to Louisiana.

"We continue to look at our facilities network in the South and Southeast," said Bill Plunkett from the company's headquarters in Houston.

Shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday, Plunkett said the decision by De-partment of Environmental Quality Secretary Dale Givens to halt entry into Louisiana was news to him. He could not comment and said he was unsure where the ash barges are. Late Tuesday, DEQ put out a press release saying it had delayed the barges with the ash from entering Louisiana waters and unloading at the Lake Charles docks. The state believes Waste Management plans to put the ash into a hazardous waste landfill its subsidiary, Chemical Waste Management, operates in Carlyss, south and west of Lake Charles in Calcasieu Parish.

Before disposal, DEQ is demanding a satisfactory work plan designed to ensure that the cargo is not a threat to public health or the environment.

The ash originated 14 years ago in Philadelphia's municipal waste incinerators. When The Bahamas rejected the ash, it began a two-year odyssey across the world's oceans. Some of it was dumped in Haiti as fertilizer before officials stopped the unloading.

Haiti finally convinced the U.S. Department of State to remove about 2,000 tons of the ash from the beach where it was deposited.

The ash was shipped to Florida and transferred to barges. Landfills in Florida and Georgia have rejected the ash.

Given said that while the ash has been determined as nonhazardous by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the landfill can accept hazardous wastes.

"We must be absolutely certain that the ash is safe for storage in Louisiana and that proper precautions are taken if the waste is to be shipped to this state," Givens said.

DEQ wants:

-- A history of the ash, including acceptance or rejection of the waste by other states.

-- Methods of disposal, with special attention given to odor, dust, emissions, spill prevention and safety, including the unloading and transportation of the waste.

--A recent comprehensive analysis of the waste's composition.

--"Due to the unique history and probable lack of uniformity of the waste, the waste acceptance testing will need to be increased above normal levels," DEQ said.

Chemical Waste Management does not have a deadline for submitting its work plan.

But until DEQ approves the plan, the ash barges are prohibited from entering the State of Louisiana, including its offshore waters, the press release said.