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By Fred Knapp, Stars and Stripes

The items contain U.S.-produced polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, a cancer-causing mixture of chemicals, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The shipment should go smoothly because it won’t violate U.S. laws banning the import of foreign-made PCBs, said Lt.  Col.  Steve Boylan, spokesman for Army headquarters at Camp Zama.

Last March, the Army tried to send 110 tons of Japanese-made transformers and other equipment containing PCBs for disposal, first to Canada, then to the United States.

The cargo was refused in both countries.  Canada, like the United States, prohibits admission of PCBs produced abroad.

Despite protests by Japanese environmentalists, port workers and local Communist party members, the cargo was returned to Japan before being removed to Wake Island, a remote atoll administered by the U.S.  military, in May.

Boylan said plans call for moving about 41,000 pounds of equipment from Sagami General Depot to Yokohama North Dock on Jan.  27.  There it will be loaded onto the Military Sealift Command ship USNS Constellation, leaving for the United States around Feb.  1.

Boylan said the equipment is packed in containers that meet "the most stringent" safety and environmental restrictions.

"This shipment and storage of PCBs at Sagami General Depot are no threat to the environment, the people who handle it or the people of the local community," he said.

On Friday, the U.S.  military notified local and prefectural officials about the shipment, unlike the case with the March shipment, Boylan said.

"They were appreciative of the fact that we did come to them in advance," he said.
Local officials could not be reached for comment.