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NEW SHIP HAULS HAITIAN ASH

by RAMONA SMITH, Philadelphia Daily News

October 30th -- It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it.

Her name is Elena Marie. And in a few short weeks, this cargo ship will be lugging tons of Philadelphia incinerator ash across the Caribbean.

She'll sail for - well, nobody's quite sure where she's bound.

And if that all sounds eerily familiar, that's because this is the latest - and hopefully the last - chapter in the infamous tale of the voyage of the Khian Sea.

Starting today, Haitian workers will begin digging up 2,000 or more tons of the hated Philly ash from two spots near that island country's port of Gonaives.

In about three weeks, they should load it aboard the Elena Marie, Greenpeace anti-toxics activist Kenny Bruno said.

Then the freighter will head for the United States with the 10-year-old residue from Philadelphia's old Roxborough incinerator ash that Greenpeace says is leaching toxins into the land in the poor Caribbean nation.

"We don't know the final destination yet," Bruno said. Several destinations have fallen through: a landfill in Central Pennsylvania, another in Virginia.

All that recalls the Khian Sea's 22-month voyage. The renegade freighter left Philadelphia at the end of August 1986 and was turned away by countries from the Caribbean, Europe and the Far East before it turned up empty in Singapore late in 1988.

The ship dumped up to 4,000 tons of ash on a beach in Haiti in January 1988, then dumped the rest in the Atlantic and Indian oceans, investigators said.

Greenpeace, which has pursued the fate of the ash for more than a decade, doesn't expect a similar odyssey this time. Bruno figures the material's final destination will be settled next week.

Pressured by Greenpeace and Haitian organizations, Philly is picking up $50,000 of the disposal bill. Eastern Environmental Services, founded by a legitimate hauler who was victimized by subcontractors in the Khian Sea scandal, put up $225,000.

And Haiti is stuck with the rest - up to $125,000. The exact cost won't be known until shippers determine the tonnage, which 10 years ago was put at as much as 4,000 tons of ash.

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.
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