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by Basel Action Network (BAN) Press Release

The latest (DOD) destination announced in their press release of 5 May follows rejections in Canada, USA, Guam, and Johnston Atoll for the waste delivery. Wake Island is a tiny atoll north of the Marshall Islands, in the path of numerous typhoons, and with an average elevation above sea level of three meters. This location is seen as a "temporary" staging point for onward destinations. However it is very likely that no such destinations will be found and the waste may remain stuck at Wake Island.

The reason for this is that it is illegal to export the waste to the United States mainland as the Toxic Substances Control Act forbids imports of PCBs that were manufactured abroad. Most of the PCB waste in the 14 containers was manufactured in Japan. Further, the waste will very likely qualify as hazardous waste under the international Basel Convention due to its liklihood of containing dioxins, furans and chlorobenzene. If it is regulated by the Basel Convention it will require a special bilateral agreement to be exported from an area under control of the United States to any other country. This is due to the fact that the United States is not a party to the Basel Convention. In any case, the Basel Action Network views any scenario involving shipping for burning in incinerators anywhere in the world as being outdated, and dangerous thinking.

“The DOD has an opportunity to look like heroes instead of fools, but they seem hell bent on proving the latter,” said Jim Puckett of BAN. “Playing the global game of hide and seek with this waste is unacceptable, particularly when a viable, safe on-site destruction technology is well in hand. We will do everything in our power to prevent them bringing this waste into the Pacific,” he said.

According to BAN a mobile technology that does not produce the notorious hazardous by-products of waste incineration -- dioxins and furans, is ready to go. A technology commercially available from the Canadian based Eco-Logic company (www.eco-logic-intl.com) has already destroyed many thousands of tons of pesticide and PCB wastes in Australia, is entirely mobile, and now is fully licensed in Japan to destroy dioxins.

The 14 containers are just the first consignment of hundreds more expected shiploads of PCB wastes that exist on US military bases around the world. These 14 containers now sit in the port of Yokohama after returning from their first wayward journey. The Japanese government imposed a 30 day deadline for their removal from Japan which expires on May 18th. In the face of that deadline, BAN claims that the Defense Department is looking for a quick and quiet way out, and is ignoring the larger, long-term picture.

While the DOD believes that they might be able to ship this waste directly from Wake Island directly to Europe, BAN argues that they can expect similar protests and blockades there particularly when the waste arrives on-board US military vessels instead of commercial ones.

BAN claims that the larger global implications of the “ship and burn” mentality that still prevails as the Defense Department are alarming as the world can soon expect many thousands of such shipments as PCBs and other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) will now be increasingly targeted for global phase-out and destruction under a new United Nations treaty.

“Its not just about these 14 containers,” said Puckett. “We need a long term solution. Rather than exporting and importing toxic wastes, we should, whenever possible be exporting and importing, proven, appropriate, safe, waste minimization and destruction technologies,” he said.

END