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Today's protest, which was called for jointly by the Basel Action Network of India and Greenpeace, argued that the toxic ships were seriously contaminated with asbestos, lead and highly persistent pollutants like poly chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Both the Basel Convention and the Indian hazardous waste rules classify asbestos wastes or wastes containing PCBs as hazardous. Export of such wastes from OECD to non-OECD countries is illegal. "The US is exporting obsolete and hazardous ships to South Asia to escape environmental and worker safety liabilities back home knowing fully well that the shipbreaking yards here have abysmal environmental and worker safety controls and no capacity to deal with these highly hazardous wastes without damaging the environment or the health of the workers," said Nityanand Jayaraman, Greenpeace campaigner. "The US decision is in bad taste to put it mildly," he added. According to informal estimates, at least one worker is killed in the Alang Shipyards in Gujarat everyday due to exposure to workplace hazards. "We expect the Governments of the South Asian region to prevent the imports of these ships of death by seeking protection under the Basel Convention by including toxic ships in the hazardous waste list of the Technical Working Group," said Ravi Agarwal of Delhi-based NGO Srishti. USA and Germany are the only OECD countries whose "hazardous" wastes are known to have entered India after the May 5, 1997, Supreme Court injunction banning the imports of hazardous wastes, according to Greenpeace research. Documented Imports into India of US wastes after May 1997 Supreme Court Ban:
Documented Imports into India of German hazardous wastes after May 1997 Supreme Court Ban:
In a strongly worded memorandum to the US Ambassador, Basel Action Network of India and Greenpeace demanded that the US immediately: revoke its decision to send its toxic ships to India, Bangladesh and Pakistan; respect the orders of the Supreme Court of India and direct US companies and US Navy to stop sending its hazardous wastes to India; undertake to reclaim the stockpiled and illegally exported hazardous wastes currently lying in ports/docks and inland container depots in India. "The USA is the worst violator of environmental rights and a perpetrator of double standards," declared P.K. Ganguly, Secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). "CITU denounces the US decision to send its toxic-laden ships to India for scrapping and demands the US Government to respect the Basel Convention banning the export of hazardous wastes to India and other non-OECD Basel countries. The CITU also demands of the Government of India to ratify the Basel Ban, " Ganguly added. Members of the Basel Action Network of India and Greenpeace are considering highlighting the issue of shipbreaking and continued violations of Indian rules by US and other OECD-nation companies in the upcoming Fourth Conference of Parties to the Basel Convention scheduled to be held in Malaysia in February. Meanwhile, the activists have assured the regional governments of their support in pushing for a no-exceptions ratification of the Basel Ban amendment. Basel Action Network of India urges
the South Asian countries to take the lead among non-OECD
countries in adopting the Technical Working Group list of
hazardous wastes and ratifying and implementing the Basel
Ban amendment in good faith.
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