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The Stuart News

FLORIDA, 28 June 2002 -- The world-wandering stockpile of ashes that for two years has languished in a barge tied up in Martin County is at last returning to Pennsylvania where it originated. This week, truckloads of ashes - remnants of refuse incinerated 16 years ago in Philadelphia - reportedly were being dumped into a landfill in rural Franklin County, Pa.

Additional loads are being carried gradually from the barge site along the St. Lucie Canal in the Tropical Farms area to Miami, then by train north to Maryland, and by truck to (let us hope) their final resting place. Though that landfill is far to the southwest of Philadelphia, at least the stuff is landing in the same state for a change.

Those ashes have traveled a roundabout route all over the world - seemingly destined to sail on forever like some figure from mythology, unwelcome in every port. What a strange odyssey - and a testimonial to hysteria. It was widely supposed that the ashes must be toxic and hazardous, though a variety of tests performed over the years showed no hazards. Still, an irrational fear persisted.

Originally about 14,000 tons when the ash left the Philadelphia incinerator, the stuff was carried to such places as Singapore and Haiti (with some supposedly dumped secretly in the Indian Ocean along the way), among other spots. Nobody would allow it to be permanently deposited in their jurisdiction. Eventually what remained of it, about 2,500 tons, arrived in Florida, first at Port Everglades and later on the St. Lucie Canal. Nobody here wanted it either, but for two years it stayed until authorities would certify it was OK to move it elsewhere. Fortunately the Pennsylvania landfill agreed to take it, and reportedly is handling it in a routine way, as it would any other trash.

A Florida Department of Environmental Protection spokesman said he thinks the last of the ashes will be out of Martin County by Monday. That's good news. Even if the material isn't hazardous, there is no reason why we here should inherit someone else's refuse. Local people undoubtedly will be glad to see the last load of ashes roll away.

This odd story has been a recurring curiosity item in publications and on newscasts. It's probably impossible to tally the total cost of hauling these ashes all around the world and squabbling over them at each stop, though it must run well into the millions of dollars. What folly.

Soon, after 16 years, this weird saga should end when the last truckload of ashes disappears under a coating of dirt in the Pennsylvania landfill. Good riddance.