Toxic waste welcome in South Africa?

WASHINGTON — Just one month after South Africa announced to the world that it would not import foreign waste under any circumstances, a 500 ton shipment of hazardous zinc smelter residues from the US is wending its way to South Africa. The wastes are aboard the Cyprus-flagged vessel, St Irene, which is scheduled to arrive in Durban on August 23. South Africa has a long and sordid history of importing toxic wastes. For almost a decade, the Thor Chemicals facility in Cato Ridge near Durban imported mercury waste from US and European companies. Thor took tens of thousands of waste barrels under the pretext of recycling, only to store them in warehouses. Two of Thor's largest suppliers were US companies: American Cyanamid and Borden Chemicals and Plastics.
Thor's operations caused widespread contamination of the ground water and soil around the plant. At least two plant workers died as a result of exposure to the mercury waste. Three Thor executives are charged with culpable homicide for the deaths.
The wastes on board the St Irene have taken a lengthy and circuitous voyage. In the early 1990s, an Illinois-based company, Big River Zinc Corporation, sent an undisclosed amount of cupric arsenide cake to Finland for the recovery of copper, nickel and cobalt. It is unclear who took responsibility for the wastes when they first arrived in Finland, but the Kokkola Chemicals company is now officially exporting the waste to South Africa.
The wastes are headed for the JAD Metal Concentrate facility in Benoni, east of Johannesburg. Kokkola will pay JAD to process the waste and recover cobalt and nickel. This is the first of several shipments which will total some 3000 tonnes.
On July 19, environment minister and National Party member Fanie de Villiers stated at a press conference in Washington, "We are not going to take waste from anywhere in the world. There is no way we will allow foreign waste in general, toxic waste in particular, to be dumped in South Africa."
De Villiers has repeatedly affirmed a total ban on waste trade, yet his own Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism approved the shipment headed for JAD.
"This export must be returned to Finland at once", said Peter Lukey of Earthlife Africa, an environmental organisation in South Africa. "The Thor Chemicals tragedy has proved that our government is unable to ensure that workers and the environment can be protected to the same standards required in the United States, Finland and other rich countries which seek to send us their toxic waste."
Earthlife Africa is exploring legal means to halt the shipment, which appears to be in violation of several international conventions.
In 1998, according to Decision II/12 of the United Nations' Basel Convention, such hazardous waste exports to non-OECD countries will be illegal. Two of the world's largest hazardous waste generators, the US and Australia, have made it clear to the South African government that they disagree with the Basel waste export ban. The environmental community will monitor closely South Africa's position on waste trade at the upcoming Basel Conference in September, when delegates will decide whether to amend the convention with the ban.
"If South Africa plays the spoiler and refuses to amend the Convention to institute the waste trade ban, it will be a slap in the face to all African countries, indeed all developing countries", said Jim Puckett of Greenpeace International.
[From Earthlife Africa via Pegasus.]