GMS fined for trading vessel containing PCBs

Archiv – United States | The Basel Action Network (BAN) toxic trade watchdog has declared victory after a US business involved in sending hundreds of ships to the shipbreaking beaches of Bangladesh and India was forced to pay out more than US$ 500 000. United States | The Basel Action Network (BAN) toxic trade watchdog has declared victory after a US business involved in sending hundreds of ships to the shipbreaking beaches of Bangladesh and India was forced to pay out more than US$ 500 000.
In February 2008, BAN and the Save the Classic Liners Campaign tipped off the US Environmental Protection Agency when they discovered that Global Marketing Systems, Inc. had taken ownership of the ’SS Oceanic’, a cruise ship formerly known as the ‘€˜SS Independence’€™. The liner was towed out of San Francisco Bay and was bound for scrapping on the beaches of South Asia, according to BAN.
EPA took legal action against the company for violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act, the law which prohibits the export of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), persistent toxic pollutants used in paints and insulation in older ships. Under the settlement announced by EPA, Global Shipping LLC and Global Marketing Systems, Inc. will pay out a total of US$ 518 500 to resolve two violations of the Act.
‘€˜Companies need to ensure PCBs are removed from any ship being exported in order to protect public health and the environment from exposure to PCBs,’€™ says Jeff Scott, Division Director for waste programmes in the EPA’€™s Pacific Southwest region. ‘€˜Federal laws prohibit companies from exporting PCBs for disposal, including PCBs built into ship components, unless approval from EPA has been obtained.’€™
Soon after EPA initiated its enforcement action against the two companies, Global Marketing Systems sought approval to sell the vessel while changing the purpose of export from disposal to continued use as accommodation for workers in the Arabian Gulf area. At the time of writing, the whereabouts of the ‘€˜SS Oceanic’€™ remain unknown although the vessel has not been seen in Asia’€™s shipbreaking yards.