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TOUR
LOGBOOK
3
March 2000 - GREENPEACE DELIVERS HAZARDOUS MILITARY WASTE TO US EMBASSY
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Manila
-- Twenty-six Greenpeace activists were arrested today in Manila
after they delivered a container filled with poisonous industrial
chemical waste (PCBs) to the US Embassy. The waste had been collected
from residential areas near the Clark Air Base. The activists
demanded the United States to clean up contamination at its former
military bases in the Philippines. After being carted off to the
police station, the activists were soon released without charge.
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forklift truck driven by Peter Willcox the captain of the Rainbow
Warrior was parked in front of the embassy gates at around 11.15
am. The container delivered to the embassy contained PCB waste from
a dismantled transformer which had been looted from the US air base
and had been found leaking in a residential area. Shortly before
arrival a delegation including Greenpeace advisor Jack Weinberg,
Toxics campaigner Von Hernandez and representatives from the People's
Taskforce for US Bases Clean Up, approached the gate demanding that
the US take responsibility for the waste. Ships crew and volunteers
from the South East Asia Office then sat in front of the container
to avoid it being moved. |
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At
this point police and troops moved in to remove the forklift truck
however, they didn't have the keys and it took them an hour to hot
wire it! After moving the container of contaminated waste and pieces
of equipment collected from near the Clark air base earlier this
week, most of the activists were arrested. |
The container
labeled "Danger, Toxic – Property of the United States" held
some 40 litres of liquid PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls), contaminated
soil in accident proof receptacles and 12 pieces of disassembled PCB-leaking
transformer wrapped in plastic. The waste was packed fulfilling proper
hazardous materials handling and transport requirements.
"We were delivering this toxic cargo back to its rightful owner.
The US government should take immediate custody of these hazardous materials
and accept responsibility to clean-up the contamination in Clark and
Subic," said Von Hernandez.
"This is not a symbolic cargo, this is the real stuff. The material
has been lying around in communities surrounding Clark, creating problems
for at least the last five years. We are reminding the US government
of its moral duty and obligation to clean up the mess it’s military
left behind in the Philippines," said Willcox.
Greenpeace believes this waste load represents just the tip of the toxic
iceberg at Clark and Subic Bay. The US military withdrew from the Philippines
in 1992 leaving their bases in their present state. The local communities
surrounding these bases have for many years suffered from mysterious
deaths and health complaints including cancer, nervous system disorders,
and reproductive problems.
Greenpeace called on the Philippine President Joseph Estrada to demand
a clear commitment from President Bill Clinton that the US would clean-up
the former bases and compensate the victims of its toxic legacy in the
Philippines when the presidents meet in April in Washington.
"The United States has committed to cleaning up contamination caused
by its bases in rich countries in Europe and Japan but has walked out
on the Philippines. This is a clear double standard and a grave environmental
injustice," stressed Hernandez.
For
more info on the Bases read the background
paper
The Clark and Subic bases are also Global
Toxic Hotspots
In Memoriam: Crizel Jane Valencia
5
March - Cebu shipbreaking yards
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