Dump and forget

eleven years ago, about 4,000 metric tonnes of toxic incinerator ash was dumped from the city of Philadelphia, usa, near the town of Gonaives in Haiti. The waste was to be shipped back to the us in mid-November 1998. But the Caribbean Dredging Excavation, the company entrusted with collecting the ash, has withdrawn its equipment from the area. "The company cannot load the ash as it has nowhere to unload in the us ," says Kenny Bruno, a Greenpeace campaigner.

Three us states -- Pennsylvania, south Carolina and Virginia -- were originally chosen as sites to dump the ash. Now, port authorities in these states have refused permission to dump the waste. us state department officials say that they cannot be blamed as they have not broken any laws. The us has yet to ratify the Basel Convention on the Tansboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste, which bans the export of toxic waste from industrialised countries to developing countries.

"The poorest country in the hemisphere should not pay to clean up waste it never wanted from the one of the richest countries in the world," said the spokesperson from Greenpeace. An official from the mayor's office in Gonaives said that Dredging was motivated by the lack of commitment shown by the Philadelphia municipal authorities towards repatriation of the ash. However, officials in Philadelphia insist that they were not responsible for sending the waste to Haiti.

When the us off-loaded the ash, there was an immediate outcry from environmentalists. A long campaign by environmental groups led to an agreement where it was decided that the waste would be sent back to the us in mid-November. It was also decided that the cost of the clean-up would be primarily met by the New Jersey-based trash hauling company, Eastern Environmental Services. Incidentally, the director of the company was originally part of a corporation that signed the contract with the freighter, Khian Sea, to dispose of the ash.

Many environmental groups have asked the Haitian government to compensate the local people who are reportedly suffering due the contamination of the toxic ash. They say that many workers, who were hired to transport the toxic materials, have since died.

Subscribe to Daily Newsletter :

SUPPORT US

We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.