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Reuters TOKYO, Japan, 19 April 2000 -- A ship carrying toxic waste from a U.S. military base was greeted by protests when it arrived back in Japan on Tuesday, following a Pacific odyssey which saw it turned away by authorities in Canada and the United States. About 150 mostly Japanese protesters, led by four members of the environmental group Greenpeace, delayed the offloading of 14 containers of waste material containing carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in Yokohama port near Tokyo. Four environmentalists circled the Wan He container ship in two inflatable boats before boarding it and putting up a banner reading "PCB - America's garbage". "We call on the U.S. to take responsibility for the waste," Matt Ruchell, Toxics Campaigner for Greenpeace Australia, told Reuters. "The U.S. should treat it (the waste) in an environmentally sound and ecologically friendly way," he said. Banned since 1977 as a cancer risk, PCBs comprise a family of chemical compounds once used as coolants and insulation for electrical equipment. The Pentagon and its Canadian disposal contractor, Trans-Cycle Industries, insist that the PCB content in the shipment is extremely low and no more dangerous than that in refrigerators and other equipment routinely handled by disposal crews. The U.S. embassy said the waste materials are safe and will be stored in an appropriate manner for less than one month before being shipped out of Japan. "Prior to shipment, the PCB level of the waste material was tested and was found to be less than 50 parts per million. This does not exceed levels permitted under the 1989 Basel Convention to which both the United States and Japan are signatories," it said in a statement. But Japan's government has also expressed concern over the 110-tonne shipment of waste, urging that it not be dumped on Japanese soil. Foreign Minister Yohei Kono told a regular news conference on Tuesday that he has asked the United States not to dispose of the waste in Japan, Kyodo news agency reported. The final destination of the waste has yet to be decided. It began its journey from the U.S. military base in Sagamihara, west of Tokyo, on March 23, originally destined for a processing facility in the Canadian province of Ontario. But local authorities blocked it from entering the country after environmentalists complained that Canada could become a dumping ground for foreign toxic waste. The Pentagon then attempted to have the ship unload the containers in Seattle but a U.S. law prohibits foreign-made PCBs from entering the country, even if they are owned by the U.S. government. 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. More News |