Ship-scrapping exemption proposed

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

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Bill in Congress could end laws keeping junk ships in U.S. waters

By SCOTT HARPER 
The Virginian-Pilot
June 2, 2004 

Environmental laws that block the foreign scrapping of junk Navy ships
and obsolete vessels in the James River ?Ghost Fleet? could be dropped
for six years, according to a new bill in Congress causing a stir at
U.S. shipyards and among environmental groups. 

Critics say the proposal, introduced late last month by U.S. Rep. Phil
English , a Pennsylvania Republican, would reopen the door to dozens or
even hundreds of rusting old ships going to China, India and other
developing nations for cheap disposal. 

President Clinton stopped the foreign tide in the early 1990s , imposing
an export ban and setting new standards intended to better protect Third
World workers and the environment from toxic materials aboard surplus
American ships. 

Those materials include waste oil, asbestos, lead and toxic PCBs, which
often are found in ship wiring. 

Idil Oyman, a spokeswoman for English, said the bill is not intended to
override the overseas ban. Instead, she said, the legislation seeks to
temporarily suspend tough environmental laws so American shipyards can
better compete for shipbreaking contracts on mounting numbers of
mothballed vessels ? vessels also laden with steel, the price of which
has gone sky-high in recent months. 

...

for the entire article, see
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=71126&ran=114873

-- 


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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