Greenpeace acts against asbestos exports

Greenpeace acts against asbestos exports

ITALY — Eight Greenpeace activists blocked a convoy of four asbestos-contaminated passenger railcars ready for export to eastern Europe on July 4.

At the small Casarsa railway station, near the north-eastern Italian border of Tarvisio, activists painted the railcars with signs such as "Danger: asbestos contaminated" and "Contaminated train" and opened a banner on the top of one of them which read "Asbestos kills — Stop dead trains".

The convoy is one of dozens in the area owned by the state-owned railway company and investigated by Greenpeace. Each railcar contains at least 800 kilograms of asbestos insulation which, under Italian law, is classified as toxic waste and banned for sale or export.

Greenpeace has revealed that since 1989, at least 6000 tons of asbestos have been exported to several eastern European countries. In May, after complaints from railway workers and anti-asbestos groups, a magistrate in Padua seized 20 railcars destined for the Ukraine.

In a report documenting the history of the asbestos railcars, Greenpeace claims that there are 2500 contaminated railcars in small railway stations in big cities such as Florence and Naples.

"The state rail authority must immediately stop this dirty trade which will expose millions of eastern European citizens to cancer", said Paolo Vaccari from Greenpeace Italy.

Some eastern European countries, such as the Ukraine, have banned the import of hazardous wastes, including asbestos. Under the Basel Convention, signed by Italy, the export of hazardous wastes such as asbestos is also banned.

From GLW issue 152