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CNIID Press Release (translation) PARIS, France. 20 August 2000 -- The French NGO CNIID (Centre national d'information indépendante sur les déchets), a member of the Basle Action Network and of IPEN, has put the government of France on notice about the problems with possibly importing a controversial shipment of U.S. military PCB waste. CNIID and the Basle Action Network have received information that France is being considered as a country to which the United States military wishes to unload its toxic PCB waste which originated in U.S. military bases in Japan. This PCB waste gained notoriety during its crossings of the Pacific Ocean, after grassroots action in Canada denied it a home in that country, and is now stored on a military base on Wake Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. CNIID emphasized the importance of the principle of destruction of PCBs by the producer nation, and also pointed out serious legal issues arising from the Basle agreement (to which France is a signatory and the U.S. is not) which would prevent France from importing the materials from a nation like the United States, which has the capability of destroying the PCBs in a safe manner. (The U.S. has access, if it chooses to use it, to technology to destroy the PCBs without resorting to incineration or landfilling, methods that result in continued POPs contamination of the environment.) FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The Basel Action Network is making this article available in our efforts to advance understanding of ecological sustainability and environmental justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a `fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond `fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. More News |