space Press Releases, News Stories

by Charlie Angus, HighGrade Magazine

Attempt to ship PCB waste to Kirkland Lake causes international incident

The attempt by Trans-Cycle Industries (TCI) to ship 90,000 kilos of PCB contaminated waste from a U.S. military base in Japan to a plant in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, continues to have international political fall-out.

According to the BBC World Service, on April 16, protesters boarded the container ship, the Wan He, as it entered the Japanese port of Yokohoma. The ship had already been denied access to Vancouver and Seattle.

The protesters unfurled a large banner which read "United States - Toxic Criminals." The banner summed up the anger in Japan over the large stockpiles of toxic waste stored on U.S. overseas bases and the refusal of the United States government to accept its own waste for treatment. It still remains to be seen if the Japanese will allow the waste back into the country.

The crisis was precipitated by TCI's attempt to ship the waste to its operation in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. In what must rank as one of the biggest cases of misjudging international protocol since Captain Cook snubbed the singing of Tiny Bubbles on his trip to Hawaii, TCI went ahead with the shipment even though it had been denied an import license just months before.

When news of the impending shipment leaked out, thanks to a mention in the U.S. military paper Stars and Stripes, Federal and Provincial officials were caught by surprise. Within days, the incident had become an international stand-off pitting TCI against the Province of Ontario, the Federal government, the Port Authority in Vancouver, the State of Washington, the Teamsters and Greenpeace.

All in all, it was quite an accomplishment for a company that was, up until a few months ago, unknown to very many people other than subscribers of HighGrader Magazine.

In the March issue of HighGrader (Paying the PCB Piper) we provided our readers with news of TCI's failed attempt to turn its Kirkland Lake operation into an international centre for PCB waste. The company, which had received a $1.25 million gift from Canadian taxpayers (courtesy of the now notorious Jobs Transition Fund), was less than pleased with the Ministry of Environment's decision.

In fact, TCI spokesman Michael Zarin was ruminating on the possibility of TCI packing its bags and leaving the country if the Province didn't overturn the ruling.

A preliminary appeal was scheduled for March 30. Two days before, however, news leaked out that the Alabama-based company was already going ahead with international imports. As part of their contact with the U.S. Department of Defense, TCI had decided to start shipping 90,000 kilos of PCB-contaminated waste from a U.S. military base in Sagami, Japan.

TCI's lawyer Michael Zarin maintained that the voyage of the Wan He was nothing to get upset about. He stated that waste was contaminated with under 50 parts per million (ppm) of PCBs and therefore did not constitute hazardous waste under international law.

Thus, said Zarin, TCI was under no obligation to fill out any export/import permit.

Said Zarin, "It's not regulated.....We don't need a license. We don't need to talk to nobody."

Ontario, however, seemed to disagree.

Jeff Chatterton, is the Communications Advisor to Ontario's Environment Minister Dan Newman. "We have a company ....(with a) certificate of approval that explicitly says they cannot accept waste that is generated outside of Canada. The last time I checked, Japan isn't even a border country."

Zarin initially dismissed HighGrader's suggestion that TCI might need a back-up plan because the Ministry of Environment wasn't going to allow the waste into the province.

"You either misconstrued what they (MOE officials) said or they were talking loosely," said Zarin, "...it's going to Kirkland Lake. "Zarin's tough guy talk made it seem as if it was going to be a case of who would blink first. But provincial officials didn't even bat an eye. The Minister's office laid down the law -- the waste wasn't being allowed into Ontario. Period.

By this time, TCI found itself fully exposed in the glaring headlights of international attention as toxic waste campaigners like Greenpeace and the Seattle-based Basel Action Network picked up on the issue.

Caught also in the unwelcome limelight were the folks at Environment Canada. With the prospect of the waste being orphaned at the port in Vancouver, the Feds were taking serious heat for their lack of policy regarding international imports of waste.

Opposition members in Parliament were also starting to ask questions about why the Liberal government gave the would-be waste importers $1.25 million in taxpayers money to set up in a Liberal riding in the first place.

Darryl Luscombe is a toxic waste campaigner with Greenpeace. "This shipment obviously embarrassed the Federal government because it shows they have no idea what is coming into this country."

With their hand all but forced, the Feds announced that the ship wasn't going to be allowed to unload its cargo in Vancouver.

This move left the U.S. Department of Defense in the hot seat. Attention now shifted to the fact the United States won't allow waste from its own bases to be brought into the US of A.

American officials thought they had the situation under control by arranging for a temporary storage site in the port of Seattle. That plan was blown out of the water when the Teamsters and Seattle dockworkers announced they wouldn't touch the cargo.

Now completely stymied, the ship had no choice but to head back to Japan. With relations already strained with the Japanese over the large stockpiles of toxic waste stored on U.S. bases, the last thing the Department of Defense wanted to contemplate was the prospect of a return voyage.

So what's the fall-out of all this? Greenpeace believes the incident will force the Feds to develop a tougher line on waste imports.

As well, Jim Puckett writing in the Seattle Times (April 12, 2000) maintains that the blockade of the Wan He represents a major turning point in handling international waste.

Writes Puckett, "The current 'ship and burn' response to the global problem of POPs (persistent organic pollutants) destruction.....creates an international shell game where toxic wastes will be shuttled around the world according to the dictates of a free market, seeking out the path of least resistance- the cheapest and dirtiest incinerators and landfills available."

For their part, TCI still blames the Feds and the Province, claiming they had prior permission to ship the waste. Speaking to Kirkland Lake Gazette, Zarin said "...it wouldn't be productive to point fingers....(since) there's a certain disagreement at this point and everybody's trying to cover their 'you-know-what.'"

On April 26, TCI decided that, rather than tangle with the Province again, it was going to withdraw its appeal for an international import license.

For more information on the PCB situation in Kirkland Lake see "Fugitive Emissions".