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TOUR
LOGBOOK
5
March 2000 - Cebu Shipbreaking Yards
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CEBU
CITY – After successfully highlighting the hazards of toxics pollution
in Manila, the Rainbow Warrior today arrived in Cebu to focus
on local pollution issues as part of its ongoing tour for a Toxic
Free Asia. Greenpeace and local environmental groups also clarified
their position on shipbreaking following the closure of a shipbreaking
yard in Balamban which catered mostly to obsolete Japanese vessels.
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| “After
stopping their shipbreaking operations last year, the Cebu shipbreakers
want to convey the impression that environmental groups like Greenpeace
are opposed to shipbreaking per se. That is not true. We would like
to ensure that the export of ships-for-scrap is not used as an excuse
to dump hazardous wastes, such as asbestos, PCBs and heavy metals,
in the Philippines or anywhere else. We have no objection to Japan
sending its ships to the Philippines provided it decontaminates
the ships in Japan prior to export,” said Von Hernandez, Greenpeace’s
Asia Toxics campaigner. |
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Over the
past years, Greenpeace has already highlighted the dangers of dirty
shipbreaking and the practice of exporting hazardous ships-for-scrap
to Asia by rich nations. Most old ships contain a variety of hazardous
substances – including asbestos, heavy-metal based paints, antifoulants
and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) -- in their structures. When broken,
these poisonous substances are released into the environment and posing
a serious health hazard to workers and nearby communities. For this
reason, rich countries with stringent environmental and worker safety
norms have closed down this hazardous industry. Almost all ocean-going
vessels are now being broken in Asia – India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh
and the Philippines – where environmental standards are either weak
or poorly enforced.
Analyses of samples obtained by Greenpeace last year from K&A’s shipbreaking
yard in Cebu indicate that much damage to the environment may have already
been done. For instance, the ash collected from the incinerator and
open burning sites inside the yard contained extremely high levels of
heavy metals such as cobalt, copper, chromium, lead and mercury. The
samples also indicate the presence of various organic pollutants including
known carcinogens such as benzene.
Old ships destined for scrapping are hazardous wastes and should be
regulated under the Basel Convention which includes a ban on the export
of such wastes from rich countries to less industrialized countries.
However, shipowners and some rich nations are keen to ensure that poor
nations remain open to receive their toxic ships-for-scrap.
“During the first leg of our tour, in India,
we witnessed the devastation caused to workers and the environment due
to the rampant pollution caused by breaking contaminated ships at Alang,
the world’s largest shipbreaking yard. We certainly don’t want that
pattern repeated here in Cebu just because a few rich shipowners refuse
to take responsibility for their ship’s proper disposal,” said Peter
Willcox, captain of the Rainbow Warrior.
“If shipbreaking should continue, we must ensure that the shipbreakers
do not use the poor enforcement of environment and worker safety regulations
as their competitive edges,” said Hernandez. “The ships must come uncontaminated
when they enter the Philippines.”
More on
Shipbreaking from our Toxic
Trade section.
8
March - Sustainable Energy Stop
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