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by ANGUS CHUANG, Reuters

Formosa's president Lee Chih-tsun said the controversial waste would be returned temporarily to Taiwan, where it originated at a Formosa plant, but would not even pass the island's customs.

``We have no intention to keep the stuff here (in Taiwan),'' Lee said at a hastily arranged news briefing after plans to ship the waste to the United States fell through.

``We want to ship it to an advanced country, preferably the United States,'' Lee said.

Formosa had arranged for U.S. waste contractor Safety-Kleen Corp. to send the waste for disposal in a dump at Westmorland in southern California's Imperial Valley.

Lee said the plan fell through after environmentalists persuaded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revoke a dumping permit for the 5,000 tons of cement-like waste.

In Cambodia, port and government officials told Reuters the shipment was expected to leave port by ship Thursday.

Cambodian environment minister Mok Mareth said he did not care where the waste went -- as long as it left his country.

``I don't know about the deal,'' he said. ``All I want is for the waste to be shipped out of Cambodia.''

The Los Angeles Times reported Friday that the EPA was reviewing its initial approval of the dumping plan after environmentalists produced documents suggesting the waste was more dangerous than the firm had stated.

U.S. activists had said that dumping the waste outside Westmorland, a low-income, predominantly Latino community, constituted ``environmental racism'' in violation of a 1994 presidential directive.

The waste was dumped in late 1998 on open ground outside the southern Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville and its discovery in December sparked riots in the area in which several people died.

Investigators determined the Cambodian firm that brought the waste in from Taiwan had colluded with local officials, clearing the way for its import despite its toxicity. Several officials have been arrested.

Formosa, which has denied any wrongdoing, initially said the waste was safe for landfill disposal, but later acknowledged some of it might slightly exceed safety standards.

Tests showed that some samples of the waste contained high levels of mercury.

Safety-Kleen has described the waste as ``low-grade'' mercury waste from the production of polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, pipe.