Bush Trying To Scrap Laws That Bar Export Of Toxics

(ENS) WASHINGTON -- An attorney for two conservation organizations told a federal judge October 15 that the Bush administration's plans to export obsolete naval vessels from Virginia to England for scrapping violates U.S. and international laws that ban or regulate the export of toxics.

The so-called "ghost fleet" vessels contain tons of carcinogenic PCBs, asbestos, used fuel, oils and other toxic substances.

Toxic trade watchdog group Basel Action Network (BAN), Sierra Club, and their counsel Earthjustice, say that as a result of the legal pressure and public attention placed on this dubious export practice, more of the ghost fleet vessels are being released to domestic scrappers and no more plans for export have been openly discussed.

In October 2003, legal action by the conservation and public health groups prevented the export of nine of 13 of the ghost ships for disposal in England.

The court did allow four old ships to be towed across the Atlantic in the fall of 2003 and those vessels now lay moored in legal limbo in Teesside, England because the intended scrap yard, Able UK, is not permitted to handle toxic waste.

Judge Rosemary Collyer ordered that the remaining nine vessels in the contract remain in Virginia pending the court's final decision.

"The Bush administration's original plan to export these vessels overseas was a stealth attempt to undermine international law," said Jim Puckett of BAN. "First, a few of these vessels would be shunted off to the UK, thereby setting the legal precedent to open the floodgates for exports to China, India, or Bangladesh where workers are getting cancer and the scrapping is done on the cheap."

Under the Toxics Substances Control Act, it is illegal to export PCBs, without a special exemption granted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency after public hearings. Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and under a treaty between the United States and England, it is illegal to export hazardous wastes unless the proposed receiving facility is properly licensed and the receiving nation has consented. Under the National Environmental Policy Act, an environmental impact statement had to be prepared for the export scheme.

Today, the groups went back to court to ensure that the agency complies with all of these laws regarding the export of hazardous wastes.

"The plan to scrap U.S. vessels in England ignores the fact that American firms could do the job more safely," said Michael Town of the Sierra Club in Virginia. "Why didn't the Bush administration send this work to American ship breakers from the outset? We aren't sure, but hopefully the court will put an end to the administration's ill-conceived plan."

Since the court stopped the towing of the other nine vessels to England, the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) has contracted with four American ship breakers to scrap these and about two dozen other high priority vessels.

MARAD administers the National Defense Reserve Fleet, which holds ships designated as being useful for defense. When the ships deteriorate, they are made available for disposal. There are approximately 110 obsolete vessels located in the three fleet sites of the National Defense Reserve Fleet; 60 of them are located in the James River Reserve Fleet in Newport News, Virginia.