Ship Export Blocked

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

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DISCOVERY OF PCBs PREVENTS EX-NAVAL VESSEL FROM BEING SCRAPPED IN CHINA 

Basel Action Network Press Release 

Finding Raises Questions About Fate of Navy "Ghost Fleet" 

Oakland, California/Seattle, WA., 4 May 2004.   Following a tip from the
Basel Action Network (BAN), a global watchdog organization dedicated to
halting exports of toxic waste from rich to poor countries, the
Environmental Protection Agency has moved to halt the export of the
vessel USS Crescent City, (aka Golden Bear, aka Artship) from Mare
Island at Vallejo, California to China for scrapping.  The ship most
recently was owned by the non-profit organization Artship Foundation and
was moored in the Port of Oakland. 

The agency acted after BAN contacted legal defense organization
Earthjustice of Oakland, California, who in turn notified the present
owner, Emilio Sanchez of Brownsville, Texas, and EPA of intent to take
legal action to halt the export should the government fail to act. 
Region IX EPA, based in San Francisco, then took action, conducting
on-board sampling to see if the vessel contained toxic polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) which are illegal to export from the United States
under the Toxics Substances Control Act (TSCA).  PCBs were found at very
high levels in on-board materials. 

"We are very satisfied that the Environmental Protection Agency in
Region IX has acted with a sense of urgency and responsibility to uphold
the law and prevent our country from passing its toxic burden to
laborers and environments in other countries" said Marcello Mollo of
Earthjustice.  "Now we need to ensure that EPA shows similar
responsibility with government owned ships." 

The action raises serious questions of a double standard whereby the EPA
takes action against private owners but fails to halt the export of
government vessels.  While the former troop ship USS Crescent City is
privately owned, EPA has failed to take similar action to halt exports
in the matter of the disposition of the entire government owned "ghost
fleet" of about 150 rusting, delapidated ex-naval vessels now moored in
Suisun Bay, California, Beamont, Texas and on the James River in
Virginia known as the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF).  The
Maritime Administration having jurisdiction over the (NDRF) has been
proposing that the vessels be exported.  

Last year, EPA exercised "enforcement discretion" in an attempt to help
the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) export 13 NDRF vessels to the
United Kingdom for scrapping despite their massive contamination with
asbestos, PCBs, and old fuel oil.*  It is also known that MARAD is
looking to China with renewed interest despite an earlier Clinton
Administration moratorium on exporting government scrap vessels to Asia
designed to protect workers and the environment there.  This has been
proposed despite the fact that MARAD has received numerous proposals to
scrap ships domestically, including at Mare Island.  BAN and
Earthjustice hope that the Bush administration will locate a suitable
ship scrapping yard on the West Coast to properly decontaminate and
recycle the NDRF vessels moored in Suisin Bay, California, as well as
retired West Coast oil platforms. 

"Against all morality and common sense, the Bush administration is all
too willing to dump its toxic waste ships on our global neighbors.  But
we are hopeful that EPA's recent action in California signals a new
willingness to act responsibly while providing jobs at home," said Jim
Puckett of BAN.  "We should not be in the business of out-sourcing toxic
waste or jobs that can be done more safely at home." 

*The export was seen by BAN as a dangerous precedent and a needlessly
risky scheme, given that numerous domestic scrapping yards were willing
to do the job in the United States.  BAN and the Sierra Club, with legal
counsel from Earthjustice sought a restraining order and sued the
government to halt the shipments.  Four of the thirteen ships were
eventually exported while the judge halted nine ships pending further
proceedings. 

for the original press release, see
http://www.ban.org/ban_news/discovery_of_040504.html

   

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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