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The Gazette (Montreal)

More than 650,000 tonnes of hazardous waste entered the country last year, up 18 per cent from 1998, said an Environment Department report made public Thursday. Forty per cent of the hazardous waste was recycled, down from 60 per cent the previous year. Much of the material went untreated into landfills, which are prone to leakage, or to incinerators.

The volume of hazardous waste imported last year exceeded all hazardous waste produced within Canada. Environment Department expert Vic Shantora said imports have risen partly because the United States has banned the dumping of untreated hazardous waste in landfills while Canada has not. In addition, U.S. companies face much stricter legal liability for the wastes they generate, Shantora said in an interview. ''When we look south of the border we say, 'We've got to upgrade.' '' Of the 650,000 tonnes of waste imported last year, 396,200 tonnes were dumped rather than recycled. Quebec saw a spectacular increase in the volume of waste imported for disposal, to 151,000 tonnes in 1999 from

57,000 tonnes in 1998. Ontario imports rose to 240,000 tonnes from 174,000 tonnes during the same period. All other provinces combined accounted for less than one per cent of the total imports - 5,200 tonnes. About 80 per cent of that was recycled. Federal Environment Minister David Anderson called on his provincial counterparts to work with him on more stringent standards. He also promised amendments to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

''The continuing rise in imports of hazardous waste is raising questions of safety and responsibility,'' he said in a statement. ''Canada does not want to become a pollution haven.'' Shantora said it would probably take about three years for environment ministers to develop a tougher regime.