PCB waste shipment becomes a political football

U.S. company's legal opinion differs from environment ministries, as military waste heads for Kirkland Lake

By: Charlie Angus

  The prospect of having to deal with 90,000 kilos of PCB-contaminated waste from a U.S. military base in Japan is turning into a major political head ache for the federal government. The shipment, expected April 7 in the port of Vancouver, is bound for a PCB plant in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, owned and operated by Alabama-based Trans-Cycle Industries (TCI). The government of Ontario, however, has made it clear that the shipment will not be allowed into Ontario.
  "We've told Environment Canada that the issue is very cut-and-dry - they (TCI) are not approved to accept the waste," says Jeff Chatterton, Communications Advisor to Ontario's Environment Minister Dan Newman. As far as we're concerned, the waste is headed for Vancouver. As long as it doesn't get into Ontario it's not our issue."
  When news of the shipment broke in Straight Goods on the morning of Wednesday, March 29, TCI's lawyer, Michael Zarin, maintained that the company had already talked to Environment Canada and Ontario's Ministry of Environment (MOEE). According to Zarin, both agencies clearly understood that since the shipment was rated at under 50 parts per million (ppm), it did not classify as hazardous waste and was not a violation of TCI's provincial certificate of approval.
  Chatterton says he is unaware of any prior communications about the shipment between TCI and the Ministry. "That's news to me," says Chatterton. "We have a company that is licensed to seek waste but their certificate of approval explicitly says they cannot accept waste that is generated outside of Canada. The last time I checked, Japan isn't even a border country. We at the Ministry are left scratching our heads over this one."
 

"If it really is non-hazardous waste, why is TCI shipping it halfway around the world when it can be dealt with anywhere?" - Jim Puckett, Basel Action Network

The Magic Cut off

  Jim Puckett of the Seattle-based Basel Action Network has been following the PCB situation on American military bases. He says that the PCBs found on used military equipment, such as transformers, tend to be found in concentrations much higher than 50 ppms. He speculates that the shipment bound for Vancouver may have already undergone a prior cleaning in Japan to ensure that it came in under the radar scope of Environment Canada.
  "But then if it has been lowered to this level, and if it really is non-hazardous waste, why is TCI shipping it halfway around the world when it can be dealt with anywhere?", asked Puckett.
  Puckett speculates that by sending a shipment that apparently is under the 50 ppm cut-off rate, TCI is testing Canadian governments' resolve. Canada's ban on PCBs is considered a soft ban. Unlike the United States, Canada has not enshrined its PCB ban in law. A shipment of 90,000 kilos rated under 50 ppm might be a legal import. "They may be testing the waters with something that's a little less potent than the mainstream waste they have waiting."
  The issue has caught the attention of Greenpeace Canada, which is planning to hold a press conference in Ottawa to demand that Ottawa turn the shipment back.
  Greenpeace spokesperson Cim Nunn declined to comment on any plans the organization may have if the shipment is allowed to be unloaded at the port. For his part, TCI's Michael Zarin says the shipment is no different than any kind of waste shipped into Canada every day. "We have a shipment on non-hazardous PCBs, under 50 ppm, legally permissible. It is not regulated. It's not considered hazardous waste. It shouldn't be an issue but I guess it has become one."
  Susan Leptinen of Environment Canada says TCI was under no obligation to advise the Canadian government of the shipment before it left port in Japan. She says government staff is now in contact with TCI and the U.S. military about the shipment. The Feds will test the shipment when it arrives in the port to see if it does fall under the 50 ppm cut-off. If it doesn't, the shipment will be turned back. If it does, it becomes a question of who is going to take the waste.
  Zarin says the shipment is headed straight for the company's Kirkland Lake branch. Ontario's Ministry of Environment says no way. Says Chatterton, "We have talked to them (TCI) and we have advised Environment Canada that the facility is not approved to accept the waste, regardless of whether the PCB levels are considered hazardous or not."
  Chatterton says that any attempt to ship the waste to Kirkland Lake would constitute a violation of TCI's certificate of approval. If any company violates its certificate of approval, "then obviously our investigation and enforcement branch will launch an investigation."
  On Thursday afternoon TCI will be appearing before an MOEE hearing in Kirkland Lake. The company is seeking to overturn the Ministry's rejection of a plan to extend TCI's cachement area from waste within Canada to waste from the 130 nations that make up the OECD and Basel-signatory countries.
  The final appeal is set to be heard in mid-May. See Straight Goods article "Dumping on the Desperate".

Charlie Angus is the editor of HighGrader Magazine in Cobalt, Ontario. His latest book is the photo-collaboration, Industrial Cathedrals of the North. He is the lead singer with the Canadian folk band Grievous Angels.

Get More/Do More
Visit the homepage of the Basel Action Network, which monitors the movement of PCBs throughout the world - www.ban.org/first_page.html.

Visit Greenpeace Canada's website at www.greenpeacecanada.org.

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