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TOWN PROTESTS TONS OF U.S. TOXIC WASTE DUMPED IN 1986

By Daniel Morel, Associated Press

GONAIVES, Haiti, 30 April 1999 -- Thousands of Haitians protested Friday against delays in shipping tons of allegedly toxic waste back to the United States. "It's the biggest demonstration we've ever had," said Mayor Edner Jean-Pierre of Gonaives,

Haiti's third largest town of 800,000 people. Everybody is concerned, since it's a real threat to community health," Jean-Pierre said. After years of negotiation, the city of Philadelphia, where the household refuse was incinerated in 1986, and a New Jersey company that was paid to dispose of it, agreed last year to contribute to the costs of its return. Caribbean Dredging and Excavation Inc. of Staten Island, New York, was hired and said it was going to dispose of the waste last November in Dorchester, S.C. But state officials said there had been no agreement, and the arrangements fell apart. Other states have refused to accept it.

There has been no news since about the fate of the waste. From 1986 to 1988, it sailed from port to port aboard the cargo ship Khian Sea, which sought a dumping ground.

Some 10,000 tons disappeared somewhere between the Suez Canal and Singapore. In December 1987, with a cargo labeled "soil fertilizer," the ship unloaded 3,700 tons of ash and pulverized glass near Gonaives, 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Port-au-Prince, in an agreement under which the then-military regime of Lt. Gen. Henry Namphy was paid.

The waste was sealed in concrete on a hillside. Haitian environmentalists claim the ash was highly toxic and killed several handlers and much browsing livestock.

Tests by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1996 found no evidence of toxic substances. But Greenpeace, the activist environmental association, tested samples in 1995 and found the ash had unusually high levels of cadmium, lead, copper and zinc that were leaching into surrounding soil.

Last November, anticipating a ship to carry it away, the waste was excavated and deposited back on the wharf and covered in plastic. Then it was moved to the seaside, where environmentalists say it likely is polluting the water.

TOWN PROTESTS TONS OF U.S. TOXIC WASTES DUMPED IN 1986

Associated Press

GONAIVES, Haiti, 30 April 1999 -- Tens of thousands of Haitians protested Friday against delays in shipping tons of allegedly toxic waste back to the United States. "It's the biggest demonstration we've ever had," said Mayor Edner Jean-Pierre of Gonaives, Haiti's third largest town of 800,000 people. "Everybody is concerned, since it's a real threat to community health," Jean-Pierre said. Schools, many businesses and most government offices closed as protesters massed on the central Place de l'Independence and wound peacefully through the streets to express their indignation. "Gonaives is not a garbage can!" yelled protesters, who dressed in white and shouldered symbolic coffins. Others waved placards urging, "The government should assume its responsibilities!"

After years of negotiation, the city of Philadelphia, where the household refuse was incinerated in 1986, and a New Jersey company that was paid to dispose of it, agreed last year to contribute to the costs of its return.

Caribbean Dredging and Excavation Inc. of Staten Island, New York, was hired and said it was going to dispose of the waste last November in Dorchester, South Carolina. But state officials said there had been no agreement, and the arrangements fell apart. Other states have refused to accept it. There has been no news since about the fate of the waste.

From 1986 to 1988, it sailed from port to port aboard the cargo ship Khian Sea, which sought a dumping ground. Some 10,000 tons disappeared somewhere between the Suez Canal and Singapore. In December 1987, with a cargo labeled "soil fertilizer," the ship unloaded 3,700 tons of ash and pulverized glass near Gonaives, 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Port-au-Prince, in an agreement under which the then-military regime of Lt. Gen. Henry Namphy was paid. The waste was sealed in concrete on a hillside. Haitian environmentalists claim the ash was highly toxic and killed several handlers and much browsing livestock. Tests by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1996 found no evidence of toxic substances. But Greenpeace, the activist environmental association, tested samples in 1995 and found the ash had unusually high levels of cadmium, lead, copper and zinc that were leaching into surrounding soil.

Last November, anticipating a ship to carry it away, the waste was excavated and deposited back on the wharf and covered in plastic. Then it was moved to the seaside, where environmentalists say it likely is polluting the water. "The government hasn't handled the problem with the seriousness it deserves," Jean-Pierre complained. A quarter of the $239,000 transport contract already has been paid, Environment Minister Yves Cadet said Thursday. "In the meantime, to reassure the population, we are going to move the waste and put it in an airtight container," he promised on Radio Metropole. 

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