15. The following is an inventory of some of the proposals that have threatened to turn the Caribbean region into a dumping ground for hazardous wastes from Europe and North America. All proposals will be listed by Date, Type of Waste, Source Countries, Exporting party, Pretext for export (see Dumping By Another Name: The Myth of Recycling, below), and Current Status.

16. Greenpeace is committed to uncovering, exposing and ending the international waste trade. This inventory, which is a continuing work, is an attempt to fulfil this commitment. Greenpeace International Waste Trade Campaigners act as reporters, not only of facts proven in a court of law, but of accounts and stories that have appeared in journalistic reportage, government memos and correspondence and conversations with waste traders and officials. In each case, we cite the primary source of the information. Because Greenpeace is not always the primary source of the information, we cannot be liable for any inaccuracies committed by the primary source.

Antigua and Barbuda

Date: June 1988
Type of Waste: Garbage
Source: U.S.A.
Exporter: Unnamed
Pretext/Fate: Incineration
Status: Rejected

The government of Antigua and Barbuda rejected a proposal by an unnamed firm to build an incinerator for U.S. garbage. The proposed incinerator would have burned over one million tons of U.S. garbage per year.

Bahamas

Date: 1980
Type of Waste: Paint, pesticides, metal plating wastes
Source: U.S.A.
Exporter: Ashvins
Pretext/Fate: Dumping
Status: Probably rejected

In 1980, a U.S. firm called Ashvins S.A. tried to ship wastes from U.S. paint manufacturers, pesticide companies and metal- plating firms to the Bahamas.

Date: August 1986
Type of Waste: Municipal incinerator ash
Source: U.S.A.
Exporter: City of Philadelphia
Pretext/Fate: Fertilizer
Status: Rejected in Bahamas, dumped in Haiti and at sea.

The Bahamas was the first country to turn back the KHIAN SEA, which visited several islands in the Caribbean in 1986 and 1987, loaded with incinerator ash from Philadelphia. (See Haiti)

Date: May 1987
Type of Waste: Garbage
Source: U.S.A.
Exporter: City of Islip, New York
Pretext/Fate: Methane recovery
Status: Rejected, returned to New York

In early 1987, the so called New York "garbage barge" tried to unload 3,186 tons of solid waste from Islip, New York, on Little San Salvador. (See Belize)

Date: 1989
Type of Waste: Liquid hazardous waste
Source: U.S.A.
Exporter: Finn Moller
Pretext/Fate: Cement kiln fuel
Status: Rejected

In 1989, the Bahamian government gave its preliminary approval for burning 88,000 tons per year of U.S. hazardous wastes in Freeport. This approval was quickly retracted following strong public opposition and a reminder to the Bahamian government that they were parties to the then negotiated (now signed) waste trade ban enacted in the Lomé IV Convention.

Finn Moller was instrumental in attempting a similar scheme in Belize and Guyana in 1987 and 1988. (See Guyana)

Belize

Date: March, April 1987
Type of Waste: Garbage
Source: U.S.A.
Exporter: City of Islip, New York
Pretext/Fate: Methane recovery
Status: Rejected, returned to New York

In April 1987, the government of Belize ordered its security forces to prevent the so called "garbage barge" from unloading its cargo of 3 186 tons of solid waste from Islip, New York. The vessel had previously attempted to unload its wastes in the states of North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, and in the nations of Mexico and the Bahamas. The operators of the vessel tried to arrange a deal with Belizean investors to purchase the cargo for use as material for a "methane recovery facility". This led a government spokesperson for Belize to say, "the idea of buying that garbage is laughable."

Date: 1987
Exporter: Finn Moller
Type of Waste: Industrial waste
Source: U.S.A.
Pretext/Fate: Incinerator
Status: Rejected

The Belizean government rejected a proposal by made by Pott Industries and Teixeira Farms to construct an incinerator for the burning of imported U.S. wastes. (see Guyana)

Date: 1987
Type of waste: Sewage sludge
Source: U.S.A.
Exporter: Applied Recovery Technology
Pretext/Fate: Dumping
Status: Rejected

Belize rejected a scheme to import sewage sludge from several U.S. cities in 1987. (see Turks and Caicos)

Colombia

Date: January 1990
Type of Waste: Municipal incinerator ash
Source: U.S.A.
Exporter: International Energy Resources
Pretext/Fate: Roadbuilding material
Status: Unknown

San Andres Island of Colombia was targeted as one of the dumpsites for incinerator ash by International Energy Resources. (See Guatemala)

Costa RicaDate: 1985
Type of Waste: Toxic waste gases
Source: U.S.A.
Exporter: TRW Corp.
Pretext/Fate: Transfer to subsidiary
Status: Rejected

In 1985, a vessel arrived off the Costa Rican coast carrying 197 cylinders filled with toxic waste gases, generated by TRW Corporation of California. Costa Rican authorities refused to allow the ship to unload the toxic gases at the port of Caldera, and demanded that the ship return to California.

Date: July 1987
Type of Waste: "Paper waste"
Source: U.S.A.
Exporter: Hancock Industries
Pretext/Fate: Recycling, land recovery
Status: Unclear

In 1987, a U.S. firm named Hancock Industries tried to convince the government of Costa Rica to construct a paper recycling plant utilizing "paper waste and related products brought from cities on the east coast of the U.S. The waste which is not recyclable would be used as sanitary landfill in the recovery of areas subject to flooding on the outskirts of the port of Limon.

Date: 1987

Type of Waste: Municipal incinerator ash

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: City of Philadelphia

Pretext/Fate: Land recovery

Status: Rejected

The operators of the KHIAN SEA, loaded with incinerator ash, approached Costa Rica with a proposal to use the toxic ash as "landfill to rehabilitate and recover lands around the port of Limon." (See Haiti)

Date: October 1990

Type of Waste: Industrial waste

Source: Europe

Exporter: World Wide Energy Inc.

Pretext/Fate: Electricity generation

Status: Unknown

World Wide Energy Inc. proposed to install a rotary kiln and energy generating facilities, using mostly European industrial waste as fuel substitute.

Dominican Republic

Date: 1980

Type of Waste: PCB waste

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Arbuckle Machinery

Pretext/Fate: Dumping

Status: Actual

According to one report, a U.S. firm named Arbuckle Machinery shipped PCB wastes to the Dominican Republic between January and June 1980.

Date: 1983

Type of Waste: Chemical wastes

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Atlantic Forest Products

Pretext/Fate: Topsoil

Status: Rejected

In 1983, the government of the Dominican Republic approved a scheme by a company called Atlantic Forest Products which would have dumped chemical wastes from U.S. cities in the barren Oviedo region. Public opposition forced the government to withdraw its approval. The government subsequently implemented one of the world's first national waste import bans in 1983. Yet, this law has not deterred waste traders from continuing their attempts.

Date: 1987

Type of Waste: Municipal incinerator ash

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: City of Philadelphia

Pretext/Fate: Fertilizer

Status: Rejected, later dumped in Haiti, and probably at sea

The Dominican Republic rejected KHIAN SEA dump attempts. (See Haiti)

Date: 1988

Type of Waste: Liquid toxic wastes

Source: Northern Europe

Exporter: World Technology

Pretext/Fate: Water purification (dilution)

Status: Unclear

Northern European liquid toxic waste was to be shipped by the Italian firm, World Technology Co. to the Dominican Republic where it would have been dissolved into a 90% water solution. This material would then have been dumped down the drain. The Dominican Company receiving the waste was formed with the pretext of building a "water purification" plant for use by hospitals and clinics.

Date: February 1988

Type of Waste: Garbage

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Franklin Energy Resources

Pretext/Fate: Electricity generation

Status: Probably rejected

In February 1988 promoters of a "recycling...plant generating energy based on cardboard refuse," travelled to the Dominican Republic on a promotion tour. However this plant was believed to be designed to take household waste from the U.S. A public outcry followed the announcement.

Date: 1989

Type of Waste: Antibiotic production waste

Source: Puerto Rico

Exporter: Unspecified pharmaceutical company

Pretext/Fate: Food for cattle

Status: Actual

An unspecified pharmaceutical company in Puerto Rico has been shipping wastes from the manufacture of antibiotics to the Dominican Republic. The company mixes the wastes with corn and fishmeal and ships it to a firm in the Dominican Republic where it is "given" to ranchers as "food for cattle."

Date: 1988

Type of Waste: Garbage

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: W.T. Associated

Pretext/Fate: Electricity generation

Status: Rejected

W. T. Associated proposed to "process" garbage imported from the U.S.A. and dump it in Santiago de los Caballeros. They stated that it would then be converted, via methane burning,to electrical power. The city council originally accepted the offer to import 3,650,000 tons of U.S. garbage each year in exchange for $1.33 per ton. A huge national outcry put a stop to the plan as the President of the Dominican Republic affirmed that no more such offers would be approved.

Date: 1988

Type of Waste: Industrial waste

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Global Dynamics Ltd.

Pretext/Fate: Electricity generation

Status: Rejected

The government of the Dominican Republic rejected a proposal from the New York City firm, Global Dynamics Ltd., to ship industrial wastes for the production of electricity.

Date: January 1990

Type of Waste: Municipal incinerator ash

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: International Energy Resources

Pretext/Fate: Roadbuilding material

Status: Unknown

The Dominican Republic was also targeted by IER as part of their regional roadbuilding scheme. (See Guatemala)

Date: 1990

Type of waste: Treated wood products

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Environmental Services Group

Pretext/Fate: Incineration

Status: Unknown

Environmental Services Group, a New York City-based firm, is negotiating with the government of the Dominican Republic for permission to build an incinerator for treated wood and other wastes to be imported from the U.S.A.

Guatemala

Date: 1987

Type of Waste: Sewage sludge

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Applied Recovery Technologies

Pretext/Fate: Fertilizer

Status: Rejected

In 1987, the Guatemalan government initially approved, and then rejected, the import of 125,000 tons of sewage sludge each year from Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles' sewage sludge contains toxic chemicals from industries which discharge their wastes into the city's sewer system. The scheme, led by the U.S. firm, Applied Recovery Technologies, would have used the sludge as a soil fertilizer in Guatemala. In exchange, ART offered the Guatemalan government US$14 million. ART has tried to ship sewage sludge to several other Central American or Caribbean countries, including Honduras and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Date: 1988

Type of Waste: Asbestos waste

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: NCTB of New Jersey

Pretext/Fate: Re-use in brake linings

Status: Unknown

In late 1988, another U.S. firm, NCTB, tried to set up a transfer station in New York which would have shipped up to 365,000 cubic yards of asbestos wastes to Guatemala each year.

Date: January 1990

Type of Waste: Municipal incinerator ash

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: International Energy Resources

Pretext/Fate: Roadbuilding material

Status: Rejected

International Energy Resources offered Guatemala incinerator ash from U.S. municipal incinerators to be mixed with cement for road building purposes. The five-year plan proposed would have involved the import of some 5.5 million tons of ash to Guatemala. In early January it seemed the Guatemalan government had already signed a protocol agreement for building the first 100 km. of roads. According to IER's presentation, the Guatemalan government was to provide the road building equipment and its operating personnel, while the company would underwrite all other costs for the project. The Guatemalan government finally turned down the deal and presented the case to the Contracting Parties to the Cartagena Convention in Kingston, Jamaica that same month. IER claims that it is negotiating similar deals with the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and San Andrés Island (Colombia).

Date: January 1990

Type of Waste: Liquid chemical waste

Source: Europe

Exporter: Terra International Services,Inc./Energy Resources

Pretext/Fate: Electricity generation

Status: Rejected

In January of 1990, Guatemala and El Salvador were offered by Terra International Services, Inc., operating as the agent for Energy Resources, N.V. (incorporated in Aruba), 1.2 million tons per year of liquid industrial chemical waste. The plan called for mixing the waste with locally generated municipal garbage and then burning it in a rotary kiln incinerator to generate electricity. Energy Resources would provide the chemical wastes as "enhancing material," provide and install all the necessary equipment for the incinerator-generator plant, supervise the operation, and provide training to local personnel.

The waste would be provided by European companies such as Bayer or from the European plants of U.S. firms such as Dow Chemical and others. The proposal claimed that one of the principal benefits of the project would be the production of cheap electricity for the industries in the Santo Tomas de Castilla free trade zone. Nonetheless, the chemical waste that would have been imported included halogenated and benzene-based solvents, all of which, to varying degrees, are carcinogenic and the causal agents for a wide range of other serious health problems.

In February 1990 the project was rejected for the first time. It was presented to the government again in May, as the agents for the deal hoped to take advantage of a loophole in the Guatemalan legislation that bans waste imports, except for "commercial use." The deal was rejected again in October 1990.

The local agents for the scheme claim that similar projects have already been approved in El Salvador (May), Honduras (August) and Nicaragua (August); there is no independent confirmation of these claims.

Date: May 1990

Type of Waste: Lead slag

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Bell Medical Corporation

Pretext/Fate: Rail and road beds

Status: Rejected

In May 1990, the Guatemalan Ministries of Economy and Mining had already given approval for a local company to import some 245,000 metic tonnes of lead slag from a U.S. company whose name is given as "Bell Medical Corporation" in one document and as "Southern Medical and Surgical, Inc." in another. The slag was to be crushed and used as gravel for rail and road beds or to be mixed with asphalt for road construction.

The project was detained for a time due to the exporter's difficulties in obtaining export permits from the U.S. EPA. Later the Guatemalan government rejected the project.

Guyana

Date: 1988

Type of Waste: Hazardous wastes

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Pott and Texeira

Pretext/Fate: Incineration

Status: Rejected

In early 1988, the Guyanese government tentatively entered into a joint venture with two California firms (Pott Industries and Teixeira Farms) to burn over 60,000 tons of U.S. hazardous wastes in Guyana each year. The wastes would have been burnt in an incinerator along the Demerara River, at the edge of the rainforest. The plan met heavy opposition from Guyanese opposition parties, which held numerous protests in Guyana and in the U.S.A. Finally, in September 1988, Guyanese President Desmond Hoyte declared the project "a non-starter."

Haiti

Date: 1982

Type of Waste: Unknown

Source: Unknown

Exporter: Steward Environmental Systems

Pretext/Fate: Dump

Status: Rejected

Steward Environmental Systems offered to buy from the Haitian government 44,460 acres of land to serve as a landfill for 40,000 metric tons/year of unspecified waste.

Date: 1987

Type of Waste: Sewage sludge

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Applied Recovery Technology

Pretext/Fate: Dumping

Status: Unknown

(See Turks and Caicos)

Date: January 1988

Type of Waste: Municipal incinerator ash

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: City of Philadelphia

Pretext/Fate: Fertilizer

Status: Dumped

In January 1988, a ship called the KHIAN SEA illegally dumped 4,000 tons of toxic incinerator residues from the U.S.A. on a beach in Gonaives, Haiti. After dumping 4,000 tons (misrepresented as fertilizer) on a Haitian beach, the ship then embarked on a voyage of 27 months. During the course of the journey, an official of the city of Philadelphia stated, "I'd slit my wrists if I didn't think there is enough greed in the world to find somebody to take Philadelphia's trash." The statement was likely an accurate one, for somehow, somewhere, the hazardous cargo was discharged in, or around the Indian Ocean. The KHIAN SEA journey includes attempts to dump the toxic ash in the Bahamas, Bermuda, Cape Verde Islands, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Philippines, Senegal, Sri Lanka and Yugoslavia.

Despite demands by government officials and Haitian environmentalists to return the ash to the U.S.A., the wastes remain piled on the beach. A Grand Jury investigation proceeds in the U.S.A.

Honduras

Date: November 1990

Type of Waste: Toxic waste

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Energy Resources N.V., Thermal processing Corp, Viking Inc. of Dover, NJ.

Pretext/Fate: Disposal

Status: Imminent

According to independent sources, the Honduran government has granted operating permits to two toxic waste disposal plants that would burn industrial wastes generated in the U.S.A. The three companies would be Energy Resources, N.V., Thermal Processing Corp. and Viking Inc. of Dover, NJ. The Honduran counterparts are Cementos de Honduras and Inversiones la Mosquitia S.A. The companies involved want to export 35,000 barrels of waste each month and will pay US $100 per barrel.

Date: March, April, 1990

Type of Waste: Radioactive paper

Source: Unknown

Exporter: Morgan Price

Pretext/Fate: Recycled, roofing, sanitary products etc.

Status: Dumped

In March and April 1990 more than 1,000 bales (300 tons) of waste cardboard were unloaded in Puerto Cortes, Honduras on the Atlantic coast. The cardboard, supposedly intended for recycling and used for roof laminate, sanitary and other products, is alleged to have radioactive contamination. The waste was shipped by Morgan Price of Hialeah, Florida and received by a Honduran firm, Maritima y Transporte de Honduras, Intermodal, S.A. Claims appear in several press clippings to the effect that millions of dollars changed hands in the deal.

Honduran sources reported that the situation had not changed since April. The cardboard was still being stored at the port, and it had not been possible to determine if the waste is really contaminated since the equipment needed to test the materials is not available in Honduras.

Date: 1988

Type of Waste: Toxic wastes

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: International Asphalt and Petroleum

Pretext/Fate: Incineration

Status: Rejected

In 1988, International Asphalt and Petroleum, proposed burning up to 1,800,000 pounds per year of U.S. toxic wastes in the rainforest around Gracias a Dios.

Date: 1988

Type of Waste: Municipal incinerator ash

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: City of Philadelphia

Pretext/Fate: Fertilizer

Status: Rejected

(See KHIAN SEA, Haiti)

Date: 1987

Type of Waste: Sewage sludge

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Applied Recovery Technology

Pretext/Fate: Dumping

Status: Rejected

In 1987, Applied Recovery Technology offered to pay Honduras between $30 and $60 million to dump sewage sludge in coastal swampland in the department of Valle, one of the poorest areas of Honduras.

Date: 1970s

Type of Waste: Nuclear Wastes

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Unknown

Pretext/Fate: Storage

Status: Rejected

Honduras rejected plans to store U.S. nuclear wastes in Puerto Cortes in the 1970's.

Jamaica

Date: January 1990

Type of Waste: Municipal incinerator ash

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: International Energy Resources

Pretext/Fate: Roadbuilding material

Status: Unknown

Jamaica was also targeted by IER as part of their regional roadbuilding scheme. (See Guatemala)

Date: 1988

Type of Waste: Solvent wastes

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: A.G. & H Chemicals

Pretext/Fate: Dumping

Status: Rejected

In 1988, A.G. & H Chemicals of Delray Beach, Florida, notified the U.S. EPA that it intended to export 75,000 gallons of flammable liquid and hazardous solvent wastes to Jamaica. The company hoped to ship these wastes to Solvar Chemicals of Kingston. The Jamaican government, however, rejected the proposal.

Date: April 1987

Type of Waste: Radioactive skim milk

Source: EEC Countries

Exporter: EEC

Pretext/Fate: Human consumption

Status: Removed, whereabouts unknown

In April of 1987 the European Community shipped 20,000 bags of radioactive milk powder to Jamaica as part of a food aid package. According to the EEC standards this milk was suitable for human consumption, but the Jamaican authorities discovered the contamination and refused to accept the donation as it exceeded the allowable levels under Jamaican law. The EEC subsequently removed all but 4,313 bags to an undisclosed site in Europe.

Date: 1990

Type of waste: waste

Source: U.S.A. and local

Exporter: International Business Development Corporation

Pretext\Fate: Incineration

Status: Unknown

IBDC is hoping to build an incinerator in Jamaica to burn local and U.S. wastes. Reportedly, the Montenay Power Corporation would build the facility.

Mexico

In spite of a Presidential Decree which bans imports of waste to Mexico, with the exception of wastes bound for recycling and bilateral waste agreements between the U.S.A. and Mexico, much illegal trade is known to occur along the 3,000 kilometer U.S.A./Mexican border. Waste traders take advantage of chronically weak enforcement of waste trade laws, and illegally ship toxic wastes to Mexico for disposal.

The legal trade in recyclable waste from the U.S.A. to Mexico is significant but does not enter into, or transit within, the Wider Caribbean Region. This traffic will thus be omitted from this inventory. The extent of illegal shipments of wastes to Mexico moving into or within the Wider Caribbean Region is unquantifiable.

Date: 1989-1990

Type of Waste: Industrial, garbage

Source: Europe

Exporter: Arnold Kuenzler

Pretext/Fate: Incineration

Status: Unknown

Notorious ex-soldier of fortune and weapons trader Arnold Andreas Kuenzler has admittedly been busy convincing various local governments in Mexico and Venezuela of the need to build numerous incinerators for European industrial and household wastes. In January 1990 he contacted the Swiss Ambassador in Mexico for his participation in a waste importation contract. The Ambassador refused to participate.

At the end of 1990 the Mexican press noted that local authorities of the State of Veracruz had been approached for the construction of various garbage incinerators.

Netherlands Antilles

Date: 1988

Type of Waste: Garbage

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Waste Central Inc.

Pretext/Fate: Reef construction

Status: Rejected

In 1988, this Netherlands dependency rejected a scheme by a firm called Waste Central Inc. to build a 70 mile long reef made of U.S. garbage off the coast of Saba. In exchange, Waste Central offered $1.00 per ton of garbage dumped, plus "one ounce of fine gold, one 'yard fowl,' and a basket of fruit and vegetables."

Date: 1987

Type of Waste: Garbage

Source: Europe

Exporter: Power, Water and Waste Ltd.

Pretext/Fate: Methane gas farm

Status: Rejected

The Netherlands Antilles also rejected a proposal by a British firm to bury U.S. wastes in Curaçao in 1987.

Nicaragua

Date: October 1990

Type: Liquid chemical waste

Source: Unspecified

Exporter: INFRA International Ltd.

Pretext/Fate: Electricity generation

Status: Rejected

INFRA International Ltd. offered to build a rotary kiln incinerator to burn high BTU waste. This project will import industrial wastes from unspecified sources, as a fuel substitute to generate electricity. The wastes are given as "principally acetone, benzene, methanol, alcohol, oils, fats and other processed materials". This seems to be either the same or a very similar project as the one proposed to Guatemala by Terra International/Energy Resources, NV.

Date: September, 1990

Type: Chemical and radioactive wastes

Source: Industrialized countries

Exporter: Benjamin Thomas Corp.

Pretext/Fate: Electricity generation

Status: Rejected

The U.S.-based Benjamin Thomas Corporation, working through its Central American subsidiary, Casa Phillips S.A., offered to build an electrical generating plant free of charge for the Nicaraguan government. The company also offered to donate the fuel for the plant, which was to consist of 500,000 tons annually of chemical and radioactive waste from unspecified industrialized countries.

If that quantity of material were actually burned each year, the incinerator facility would produce at least 2500 metric tons of ash with radioactive and or toxic contaminants.

The Nicaraguan press reported that the local agent for this project was Farid Ayales, former Costa Rican ambassador to Nicaragua during the Oscar Arias government. Ayales later denied the report.

Date: August, 1990

Type of Waste: Lead slag

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Bell Medical Corporation

Pretext/Fate: Roadbuilding material and landfill

Status: Unknown

The agents for this project in Guatemala claimed to have already received permission from the Nicaraguan government to move ahead with a similar project in the latter country; the slag would be used as construction material to repair roads damaged in the war and as land fill. There is no independent confirmation of this.

Date: April 1990

Type of Waste: Municipal incinerator ash

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: ALQUI Distributors

Pretext/Fate: Roadbuilding material

Status: Rejected

In April 1990, Roberto Morales, agent for ALQUI Distributors, offered the Nicaraguan government some 200,000 tons of ash per month from U.S. municipal incinerators (claiming the ash is from Philadelphia), for the next five years. Each shipment accepted would be accompanied by payment of some 1.2 million dollars, although the vast majority of the money would be paid as fees and commissions to agents, shippers, lawyers, etc, and a very small percentage to the Nicaraguan government. The ash would be delivered to the port of Bluefields and supposedly be used in roadbuilding projects, first to connect Bluefields and Pto. Cabezas and in a second stage, Bluefields and Managua.

The Nicaraguan government rejected the scheme. Dr. Jaime Inser, director of the Nicaraguan Institute of Natural Resources (IRENA, the government agency responsible for environmental matters) affirmed in press declarations that Nicaragua would not accept this kind of projects.

Morales claims that President Cristiani and the head of the Salvadoran army have both already signed agreements for a similar deal in El Salvador. It also seems that Morales has been offering his ash in other Central American countries, in each case asserting that the previous country visited has already accepted.

Date: December 1990

Type of waste: Tire pieces and other waste

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Camus, Granata and Associates, Inc.

Pretext-Fate: Energy generation

Status: Under consideration

The Miami-based, Camus, Granata and Associates, Inc. has presented a proposal to the Nicaraguan government to build an incinerator and a modular electrical generating plant. Imported tire scraps and pellets would be a principal fuel source for the plant. The initial proposal also mentioned the possibility of using U.S. solid municipal wastes, but that part of the project was rejected by the Nicaraguan government. The rest of the project remains under consideration.

Panama

Date: August 1990

Type of Waste: Municipal incinerator ash

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Almany Enterprises Inc.

Pretext/Fate: Landfill

Status: Under consideration

The Miami-based firm Almany Enterprises offered the Panamanian government some 30 million metric tons of ash from U.S. municipal incinerators, to be imported over the next four years. The company would pay the government approximately 6.50 USD for every ton received. In addition the company offered to construct a block factory, a hospital and an incinerator for local wastes. The ash would be used as land fill material in France Field, an area with both fresh water and marine wetlands, close to the Colon duty free port.

Date: 1988

Type of Waste: Garbage

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: International Energy Resources

Pretext/Fate: Landfill or incinerator

Status: Rejected

Panama has been a major target of numerous waste traders. In 1988, the government rejected a deal proposed by the New York firm, International Energy Resources Inc., to dispose one-third of New York City's garbage in either a landfill or an incinerator near Colón.

Date: 1988

Type of Waste: Radioactive ash

Source: Austria

Exporter: Gebrueder Convalexius

Pretext/Fate: Dumped

Status: Prohibited by Austria

In 1988, an Austrian company, Gebrueder Convalexius, proposed to ship 4,500 barrels of nuclear wastes (reportedly radioactive ash) to Panama. However, the Austrian government prohibited all nuclear waste shipments to Panama.

Date: 1987

Type of Waste: Municipal incinerator ash

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Bulkhandling

Pretext/Fate: Roadbed material

Status: Rejected

In 1987, the Panamanian government retracted its earlier approval for a scheme which would have dumped 250,000 tons of incinerator ash from Philadelphia in coastal wetlands in the province of Bocas del Toro.

Suriname

Date: 1987

Type of Waste: PCB waste

Source: Europe

Exporter: Mine Tech International

Pretext/Fate: Dump

Status: Rejected

This former Netherlands colony in South America rejected plans by the Netherlands firm, Mine Tech International, to dump two million tons of PCB-contaminated wastes from Europe in Suriname in exchange for an undisclosed sum of money, in 1988. The rejection followed a heated debate in Surinam over the proposal.

Turks and Caicos

Date: 1986

Type of Waste: Sewage sludge

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Applied Recovery Technology

Pretext/Fate: Dumping

Status: Unknown

The broker firm, Applied Recovery Technology of Alexandria, Virginia U.S.A. has been attempting to ship US sewage sludges to numerous Western Hemisphere countries since 1986. ART has offered British officials approximately $33 million per year for use of 400 hectares of land for a dumping ground on West Caicos Island.

The Governments of Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras have all rejected similar ART proposals.

Venezuela

Date: 1987

Type of Waste: Highly toxic wastes

Source: Europe

Exporter: Jelly Wax

Pretext/Fate: Dumping

Status: Actual

The Venezuelan coastal city of Puerto Cabello was the unwilling home to 2,000 tons of highly toxic wastes from Europe in 1987. The waste trading vessel, LYNX, dumped and abandoned the wastes in Puerto Cabello, where they remained for six months. According to the Venezuelan government, "while stored in Venezuela, the drums of waste leaked, were in constant danger of explosion and presented serious health hazards to the local population." The government ordered the wastes removed and returned to Italy. The wastes finally returned to Italy in the summer of 1988, but only after they were dumped first in Syria.

Date: 1987

Type of Waste: Toxic wastes

Source: Europe

Exporter: Jelly Wax

Pretext/Fate: Dumping

Status: Rejected

Another European waste trading ship, the RADHOST, was prevented from dumping toxic wastes in Venezuela in 1987; the RADHOST eventually dumped these same wastes in Lebanon.