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Wed Apr 5, 5:23 am

Vancouver won't accept PCB shipment

The Port of Vancouver has rejected a shipment of PCB-contaminated waste from U.S. military bases in Japan.

Greenpeace says the shipment is now headed to Seattle for temporary storage. But defence officials still need permission from the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Coast Guard Captain Michael More says even after all the paperwork is in order, there could still be problems. There are hints longshoremen may refuse to unload the 18 tonnes (2200 pounds) of waste.

Originally, the waste was to be trucked over the Prairies to a U.S.-owned recycling plant in Kirkland Lake, Ont. Trans-Cycle Industries was supposed to process the waste, then ship it to Swan Hills, Alta., to be destroyed.

But the Ontario government said it wouldn't allow the shipment into the province.

PCBs, now banned industrial compounds once used in electrical equipment, are considered possible carcinogens.

-- viewer (justp@ssing.by), April 05, 2000

Answers

http://www.nandotimes.com/noframes/story/0,2107 ,500189138-500254317-501295980-0,00.html

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (April 5, 2000 7:50 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - Customs authorities in Uzbekistan have seized 10 lead containers with radioactive material inside that were bound for Pakistan, the main customs office said.

The containers were being transported on a truck driven by an Iranian citizen who presented Uzbek officials with a declaration saying his cargo consisted of stainless steel metal, the State Customs office said Sunday.

However, a check by Uzbek customs and security officials revealed a level of radiation that exceeded allowed norms. The truck was detained at a border post 12 miles from Tashkent, Uzbekistan's capital.

The truck was headed from Kazakhstan to Pakistan and was to have traveled through Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and then Iran. The vehicle was sent back to Kazakhstan on Saturday.

After the Soviet collapse in 1991, Kazakhstan declared itself a neutral and non-nuclear country and turned over its Soviet-made nuclear weapons to Russia. The United States is helping the country destroy remaining weapons facilities.

Western nations have expressed concern over the possible leak of nuclear weapons technology to such countries as Pakistan and Iran.

-- viewer (justp@ssing.by), April 05, 2000.

viewer:

This is a question that we will be facing for some time to come. In the past, we had something called the cold war. At times, it was considered to be a struggle for survival [based on Stalin's papers; it probably was]. The United States shouldered much of the financial burden of the cold war. They built bases around the world, using the best technology available at the time. Risk management decisions were based on survival versus possible future ecological damage. Well the chickens have come home to roost. Based on this realistic analysis should the people of the United States be held to financially responsiblity for the remediation of these sites. Could be the big question that we face in the near future.

Best wis

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), April 05, 2000.