Hazards On the High Seas

Ships loaded with poisonous chemicals and mineral residues may shortly begin steaming overseas, as waste treatment companies flee soon-to-be issued regulations governing the processing and storage of toxic substances in the U.S. Although plans by a U.S. company to transport wastes to foreign-exchange starved Sierra Leone have fallen through, a number of firms are presenting similar proposals to other Third World governments.

On February 19, Sierra Leone's president, Siaka Stevens, buckled under to international pressure and rejected the proposal by Nedlog Technology Group of Arvada, Colorado. The plan generated sharp criticism in the U.S. and abroad, particularly from the country's neighbors.

Late last year, after Liberian President William Tolbert rebuffed Nedlog's advances, the company approached the Stevens administration. The terms of the two proposals were identical: a direct cash payment of up to $25 million in return for permission to construct a waste processing and disposal facility. "We smelled something fishy about the deal and decided not to have any part of it, despite the money they were dangling in front of us," remarked Liberian Embassy spokesman Sylvanus Corker. "We learned a lesson from Love Canal."

Nedlog's proposal is related directly to regulations scheduled for release this spring by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The guidelines will include new licensing procedures for dump sites, and a system for tracking the domestic movement of hazardous wastes. "These people are looking for cheap places to dump hazardous wastes, rather than biting the bullet and doing it right," says EPA official WIliam Sanjour.

The collapse of the Sierra Leone plan by no means spells the end of corporate attempts to dispose of wastes overseas. Nedlog has begun discussions with a number of other governments, most notably Chile. The country's near messianic pursuit of foreign exchange and its willingness to defy international opinion make it an attractive host for a waste disposal site. U.S. State Department officials indicate that U.S. companies are also holding preliminary talks with the government of Haiti.