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Greenpeace India Press Release

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, India, 4 February 2002-- At least 30,000 tonnes of scrap from the World Trade Center wreckage has been exported from the United States to Sabari Exim Pvt Ltd of Manali, Chennai. Concerns over the potential contamination of the steel scrap has alarmed trade union and environmental groups in India and the United States who say that uninformed workers may be exposed to the harmful toxins while handling the scrap. If the rest of the debris at Ground Zero is any indication, it cannot be ruled out that the WTC scrap may be contaminated with cancer-causing asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, furans, mercury, lead and other heavy metals. Greenpeace calls for an immediate investigation into whether the shipments are contaminated and a halt to further moving of the scrap until it is proven that the shipments are entirely safe for the workers handling it and the environment.

"We admit that the steel scrap may not at all be contaminated. But it is better to be safe than sorry, and the burden of proving that the scrap is safe is on the US exporter and Government," said Manu Gopalan, Greenpeace's Toxics Campaigner in India.

Greenpeace, PUCL (Tamil Nadu-Pondicherry) and the Central trade unions such as CITU, HMS and AITUC have written to the US embassy demanding an investigation into the matter. They have also condemned the US Government for its "continued inaction" in stemming the export of wastes and scraps to industrializing countries and have called it "a consistent pattern in keeping with USA's tacit, if not active, support for toxic trade."

"We're totally opposed to the US and other rich countries using India as a dumping ground for all kinds of wastes and rejects. Such dumping of steel scraps are adversely affecting the major steel plants in our country, apart from causing whole environment and health problems" said the Secretary of Centre of Indian Trade Unions from New Delhi.

"We demand that the US Government immediately provide evidence that the steel scrap sent to India was free of contamination by furnishing analytical reports that prove the absence of asbestos dust/fibres, polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins/furans, cadmium, mercury and other toxins. In the event that your evidence points to contamination, we hope you will live up to the memory of those killed in the September 11 disaster and arrange for the re-export to the US of the steel scrap already sent to India," the groups said in their letter to the US embassy and copied to the Ministry of Environment & Forests.

Although steel scrap is legal trade, the conditions under which the scrap at the World Trade Center was created raises concerns about toxic contamination. "This is not ordinary steel scrap. Everything in the World Trade Center, from the mercury-containing tube lights, the carcinogenic asbestos insulation, PVC articles, and computers were incinerated after 91,000 liters of jet fuel ignited in the buildings," said Mr.E.Deenadayalan, of the New Delhi based organisation, The Other Media. "If the WTC debris were safe, why would the American fire- workers who are clearing up the site be dressed up in full-body protection and gas masks?"

The WTC site from where the steel scrap was extracted is sought to be characterized as a Superfund (highly contaminated) site owing to the elevated levels of poisonous substances found there. There are no safe levels of exposure to cancer-causing substances like asbestos, PCBs and dioxins, and toxic metals like cadmium, mercury and lead. Also, like cadmium and mercury, once ingested or inhaled, they resist degradation or excretion and tend to build up to dangerous levels in the body over the long run.

Attempts by citizens' groups in Chennai to get the Port Authorities and the Chennai Customs to take action on the matter seem to have failed as well. "Port and customs authorities in Chennai have remained insular to any attempts on the part of citizens' groups to seek information and action. In fact, they seem more intent on passing the buck to each other rather than conduct a real investigation into whether or not the scrap is contaminated," said Chennai-based advocate and activist T. Mohan.

The first consignment of the scrap arrived in early January onboard a Maltese vessel Brozna. Two other ships, Shen Quan Hai and Pindos, have subsequently arrived with a cargo of "scrap." While the latter two are suspected of carrying WTC scrap, no confirmation has yet been possible. Pindos is reportedly berthed in Chennai Port and is slated to sail on 7 February.

For more information, contact: Doris Rao, Mumbai- 0-9820190278 Email: doris.rao@dialb.greenpeace.org Manu Gopalan, New Delhi. 011-6536716. Email: manu.gopalan@dialb.greenpeace.org Website: http://www.greenpeaceindia.org