GREENPEACE BOARDS CARGO SHIP OF U.S. TOXIC MILTARY WASTE IN JAPAN

GREENPEACE BOARDS CARGO SHIP OF U.S. TOXIC MILTARY WASTE IN JAPAN

18 April 2000

Tokyo/Amsterdam -- Greenpeace activists from Japan, Canada and the United States today boarded the container ship MV Wanhe in Yokohama, Japan, demanding that the United States take responsibility for environmentally sound, non-incineration disposal (1) of the toxic industrial chemical waste on board. The cargo consists of 14 containers of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from US military bases in Japan.

Greenpeace condemned the US government for trying to illegally ship hazardous PCB waste into Canada from US military bases in Japan. After boarding the ship, the team of four women displayed a banner reading "USA - Toxic Criminal".

The toxic PCB shipment on board the MV Wanhe is being returned to Japan after the dock workers in Seattle refused to unload the cargo and environmentalists threatened a lawsuit. The military waste shipment left Seattle on Friday 7th April and sailed to its next port of call, Vancouver, with the waste containers still on board. Since the Canadian authorities had already denied the shipment from being offloaded, the MV Wanhe left Vancouver 9th April for Japan (2). The waste is being returned to Japan for one month before being reshipped to a yet undisclosed location.

"The US Department of Defence has made a mess by trying to secretly dispose of this waste. The shipment was not allowed into the US nor into Canada for incineration. It is irresponsible for them to send it back to Japan without a proposal for an environmentally acceptable solution for detoxification of the waste," said Matt Ruchel, Toxics Campaigner for Greenpeace International.

"Promising non-incineration technologies already exist and are being used for example to clean up of hazardous wastes dumped at the 2000 Summer Olympics site at Homebush Bay, in Sydney, Australia. It is crucial, however, that proper controls and community input is gained before such operations are initiated," said Ruchel (3).

"This waste should be treated by the United States without causing any environmental damage or effects on the local community. The Japanese government needs to demand a guarantee from the United States that this waste is dealt with in an environmentally and socially responsible way," said Sanae Shida Greenpeace Japan, Executive Director. "Unless the two governments commit to environmentally sound treatment of this waste, the PCB ping pong game will not be resolved," added Shida.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
- Matt Ruchel, Greenpeace International Toxics Campaigner, Tel: +81-90-2254-3326;
- Sanae Shida , Greenpeace Japan, Executive Director, Tel: + 81-90-2252- 9528;
- Susan Yoshimura Japan media Tel: +81-90-8116-9816;
- Steve Shallhorn, Campaign Director, Greenpeace Canada, Tel: + 1 416 4519354;
- Miranda Holmes, Greenpeace Canada, Press Officer, Tel: + 1- 604-551-3206;
- Teresa Merilainen, Greenpeace International Press Officer, Tel: -3120-523 6637.
- Footage available on request. Pictures will be available from Greenpeace's picture desk website: http//www.greenpeace.org/library/picturedesk.html

- Follow Greenpeace's Toxic Free Asia Tour on the web:
http://www.greenpeace.org/~toxics/toxfreeasia/

1) Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly toxic chemical compounds whose production has been banned worldwide. (Only one production capacity in Russia remains.) PCBs are listed as one of the "dirty dozen" persistent organic pollutants (POPs) by the United Nations Environment Program for global elimination in an international treaty presently being negotiated by over 100 governments. Incineration of the PCB waste will give rise to dioxin and other toxic emissions. There are still vast amounts of PCBs in use in transformers and other electrical equipment. The Greenpeace report "Alternative Detoxification Technologies for Persistent Organic Pollutant Stockpiles" outlines technical criteria for treatment of PCBs and other POPs. The report can be obtained on request on http://www.greenpeace.org/~toxics/reports/alttech2.pdf or http://www.who.int/ifcs/isg3/d98-17b.htm

(2) The shipment was denied entry into Canada because the company contracted to treat the waste, Trans Cycle Industries (TCI) of Kirkland Lake, Ontario, had been refused an import permit by the Ontario authorities in December 1999. TCI use a solvent washing process to remove the PCBs from metal wastes. The PCB waste was planed to be sent for incineration at the Bovar incinerator in Swan Hills, Alberta (Canada). As a result of the incineration of PCB and other hazardous wastes at Swan Hills, the authorities have advised local indigenous peoples not to consume wildlife from within 30 km of the incinerator.

3) Details of the clean up of toxic contamination at Homebush Bay can be found at http://www.greenpeace.org.au/info/archives/olympics/reports/300_days/toxic.html; http://www.greenpeace.org.au/info/archives/toxic/dioxin/NSW.html