BAN hits out over vessel bound for Bangladesh

USA – The Basel Action Network (BAN) watchdog organisation has raised objections to the decision by the US Maritime Administration – with the support of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – to clear the US-flagged cargo vessel ‘Harriette’ for scrapping on the beaches of Chittagong, Bangladesh.

In past years, BAN explains, the EPA required older US-flagged vessels to be tested for toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) prior to being exported to foreign scrap yards to ensure no violation of the US Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). ‘TSCA has been the only legal means of preventing the toxic dumping of obsolete US ships on Asian beaches,’ BAN says. ‘Now, EPA seems willing to ignore its obligation to diligently administer TSCA, as directed by Congress, and, instead of testing, is allowing ship owners to self-certify that their ships are PCB-free – effectively permitting the possibility of illegal export of toxic PCB waste to the developing world with a see-no-evil policy.’ Self-certification ‘has time and time again proven to be a failed process of regulating industry’, the organisation adds. According to BAN, EPA’s inaction puts the beneficiary in a position to regulate his own actions, with a favourable determination bringing the owner a reported US$ 3.2 million in the case of the ‘Harriette’.

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