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by Associated Press

Demonstrators used inflatable watercraft to reach the ship and attach a yellow banner to its hull reading "Toxic PCBs, return to sender."

They also put up flags protesting the arrival of the M/V Wan He late Friday night in Vancouver. The ship was to unload and take on other cargo before continuing on a scheduled run to Japan.

The Wan He was carrying 14 containers full of PCB-contaminated transformers and related material from U.S. military bases in Japan. The waste originally was to be sent to a Canadian disposal facility, but when that was rejected by the Canadian government, the U.S. Department of Defense got permission from the Environmental Protection Agency to store it for about 30 days in Seattle.

However, dock workers in Seattle refused to unload it, and Washington Gov. Gary Locke demanded written assurances from the Pentagon that the waste had an ultimate destination and would be in Seattle no more than two weeks. The ship unloaded other cargo and headed out of Seattle with the waste still aboard Friday.

Greenpeace spokesman Steve Shallhorn said the group has called on Canadian Environment Minister David Anderson to put an immediate ban on importing hazardous waste.

"The United States has a similar policy and we think that's also appropriate for Canada," said Shallhorn.

He said the toxic material should never have been loaded and transported in the first place.

"This particular shipment can be neutralized on site at the U.S. army base in Japan," Shallhorn said.

Scientific studies have linked PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, to cancer. Manufacture of products containing PCBs has been banned in the United States.