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PCB WASTE MAY NOW GO TO SEATTLE

Greenpeace Press Release

VANCOUVER, Canada, 4 April 2000 --  Greenpeace has discovered that a company trying to ship U.S. military PCB waste to Canada now plans to off load the shipment in Seattle tomorrow for temporary storage.  
                     
The news follows today’s announcement that the Vancouver Port  Authority will not accept the China Ocean Shipping Company shipment originally destined for Trans Cycle Industries (TCI) in  Ontario.  
                     
"This cargo is likely to be no more welcome in Seattle than it was in Vanocouver," said Miranda Holmes of Greenpeace Vancouver. If  the longshoremen refuse to offload the waste in Seattle, it will still  be on board the Wanhe when it arrives in Vancouver on Friday,  April 7. With the Port Authority refusal to accept the shipment,  there is the potential for this hazardous cargo to have no place to go.  
                     
The controversial shipment may not have been the first between the U.S. military and TCI in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. Since 1997, it has been illegal for the US military to import foreign manufactured PCB waste into the United States for treatment and disposal. TCI, which had a contract with the military to dispose of this waste, opened its Ontario facility shortly after the import ban went into effect.  
                     
Under the terms of TCI's contract, the waste now belongs to the Alabama-based company, not the U.S. military. The company’s application for an import permit was rejected by the Ontario Ministry of Environment, which has said it will not allow the shipment into Ontario.  
                     
 "We are pleased to that we’ve been able to stop this shipment being accepted in Vancouver," said Dr. Darryl Luscombe,  Greenpeace toxics campaigner. "But this is not a permanent  solution to the problem. What happens after the temporary storage arrangements end in 30 days? Are they going to try to sneak it into Canada again?  
                     
"There was no need to ship this waste. The technology exists to establish a facility to isolate the PCBs on-site, in Japan. Under no circumstances should the Canadian authorities in future open the door to the huge stockpile of U.S. military waste PCBs stored around the world."  
                     
For more information, contact: 
                     
Dr. Darryl Luscombe: 604-253-7701 ext. 13 
Miranda Holmes: 604/253-7701, ext. 20 

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