US toxic waste rejected

Wednesday, April 19, 2000 - 10:00

US toxic waste rejected

@body text = A ship carrying 110 tonnes of toxic US military waste from bases in Japan to Canada has had to return without unloading, Radio Australia reported on April 10. Two inflatable boats belonging to environmental group Greenpeace, which led protests against the shipment, escorted the container ship Wan He out of the Port of Vancouver.

The waste, discarded transformers and other electrical equipment laced with cancer-causing PCBs, was destined for processing in Canada, but local authorities stopped the shipment when environmentalists complained that Canada should not become a dumping ground for toxic waste.

The Pentagon attempted to unload the containers at the port of Seattle but a US law prohibits foreign-made PCBs from entering the country, even if owned by the US government.

From GLW issue 402