[BACK]   [HOME PAGE]

Index (CD indicates an article in The Cambodia Daily, not available in electronic form.)

PHNOM PENH, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Thousands of tonnes of imported waste bearing skull-and-crossbones danger signs is to be sent back to Taiwan if it is proved toxic, a Cambodian minister said on Tuesday.

Some 3,000 tonnes of the material was found packed in triple-layer plastic sacks bearing the signs near southern Sihanoukville port, Minister of Environment Mok Mareth said.

Cambodian authorities believe the waste is toxic and will order its return if tests prove this, he said.

''If it's not dangerous why do they need to put it in three layers of sack with the skull-and-cross-bones sign and dump it in Cambodia?'' Mok Mareth asked.

''I myself am scared to go too close to the site,'' he told Reuters.

Officials were seeking the help of United Nations agencies to analyse the waste, Mok Mareth said.

''No one knows for sure whether it's radioactive or toxic but the U.N. will help us analyse it. If we find it is toxic we'll send it back to Taiwan,'' Mok Mareth said.

The material was labelled ''construction waste'' and imported from Taiwan last week by a Cambodian firm. It was dumped on land about 10 km (six miles) from Sihanoukville, which is 200 km (125 miles) southwest of Phnom Penh.

Local people had been going to the site, emptying rubble out of the sacks and taking them away to store rice, the minister said.

It is in a watershed area and Mok Mareth said he was worried that the waste could seep into the ground and contaminate water supplies.

TAIPEI, Dec. 16 (Kyodo) -- Taipei has instructed its representative in Vietnam to look into the export of suspected Taiwanese toxic waste to Cambodia, the semiofficial Central News Agency reported Wednesday.

The country's representative office in Ho Chi Minh City, whose responsibilities include neighboring Cambodia, has been asked to speedily contact Cambodian authorities and to confirm details about the shipment of the suspected toxic waste, Foreign Ministry spokesman Roy Wu said, according to the agency.

Cambodian Minister of Environment Mok Mareth was quoted as saying in press reports from Phnom Penh on Tuesday that 3,000 tons of imported waste marked with toxicity danger signs will be sent back to Taiwan if the shipment is proven toxic.

''If it's not dangerous why do they need to put it in three layers of sack with the skull-and-crossbones sign and dump it in Cambodia,'' Mok Mareth said, according to Reuters news agency.

The report said the waste, labeled construction waste, was imported from Taiwan by a Cambodian firm last week and was found near Sihanoukville port, a popular tourist destination. The report added the United Nations would help Cambodia to analyze whether the material is toxic or radioactive.

Wu said Taiwan hopes to get necessary information from the Cambodian side to determine whether the shipment actually originated in Taiwan.

Taiwan, whose nuclear waste dump on Orchid Island is virtually filled to capacity, drew international criticism last year over a commercial deal with North Korea for the permanent dumping of radioactive waste from its three nuclear power plants.

The contract between state utility Taipower, which operates all three nuclear power plants, and cash-hungry North Korea came about after Taiwan had negotiated inconclusively with Russia and rival China over nuclear waste exports.

Taiwan's Atomic Energy Council has not yet approved the planned waste shipments to North Korea on the grounds the future storage site in an abandoned coal mine is not completed.

There was speculation when Taiwan opened diplomatic relations with the Marshall Islands last month that Taiwan is hoping to eventually dump some of its nuclear waste in the Pacific archipelago.

But Taiwan's Foreign Ministry vehemently denied such plans at the time.

By Huw Watkin

Phnom Penh -- Officials are to investigate reports that toxic waste may have been dumped in offshore fishing grounds, following the discovery of suspect material near Cambodia's main port.

Environment Ministry officials said the material, discovered this week 15km from Sihanoukville, was contained in triple-lined sacks bearing the skull-and-crossbones warning sign.

Customs officials said the 200 tonnes of waste was imported by a local company last week as part of a 3,000 tonne shipment from Taiwan described in documents as construction waste.

They said the shipment was approved by "high officials" in Phnom Penh, but declined to give further details.

Taipei has instructed its representative in Vietnam to look into the export of suspected Taiwanese toxic waste to Cambodia, the semi-official Central News Agency reported yesterday.

Environment Minister Mok Mareth said it remained uncertain whether the material was toxic, but that he feared contamination of local water supplies.

Heng Narith, deputy director of the pollution control department, however, said the waste was not radioactive.

He said he believed the waste was from an industrial incineration plant and could contain dangerous heavy metals such as mercury, chromium and lead.

Mr Mareth said local people had emptied some of the sacks and had taken them home for use as bedding or to store rice.

Newspapers reported yesterday that at least four of those people had died after suffering severe bouts of diarrhoea, while others had reported severe skin conditions.

The reports could not be confirmed.

Mr Mareth has set up an inter-ministerial committee to investigate the dumping.

"If we discover this is toxic waste, it will be considered a crime against Cambodia and we will send it back to Taiwan," he said.

But he conceded it might be difficult to find a shipping company which was prepared to return the material without the express approval of Taiwanese authorities.

PHNOM PENH, Dec 17 (Reuters) - A sample of suspected toxic waste imported from Taiwan and dumped near Cambodia's main port has been sent to Hong Kong for analysis while authorities try to determine who is responsible for importing the material, officials said on Thursday.

A team from the interior and environment ministries is investigating and those responsible for dumping the load of some 3,000 tonnes of waste will face legal action, officials said.

''The process of investigation is going on,'' interior ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak told Reuters. ''I'm sure those involved will be brought to trial according to the law.''

Minister of Environment Mok Mareth said he was certain the waste material, in triple-layer plastic sacks bearing skull-and-cross-bone danger signs, was toxic. He said it would be sent back to Taiwan.

''I'm sure it's toxic waste,'' Mok Mareth told Reuters.

''If it's not toxic why do they need to transport it so far and waste money sending it to Cambodia? We must send it back to its country of origin, Taiwan,'' he said.

''We don't let anyone dump waste in Cambodia,'' he said. ''It's bad behaviour, a bad attitude, we must send it back.''

Heng Nareth, deputy director of the pollution control department, said two cans of the material, which was labelled construction waste and dumped about 10 km (six miles) from Sihanoukville port last week, had been sent to Hong Kong for analysis.

Khieu Sopheak declined to comment when asked if any Taiwanese business people connected with the waste shipment were being sought for questioning.

Senior police officials said no arrests had been made so far.

Local people who discovered the dump emptied the rubble out of the sacks and took them away to store rice before they were alerted of the potential danger.

The material was dumped in a watershed area and Mok Mareth said earlier he was worried it could seep into the ground and contaminate water supplies.

Mok Mareth said Singapore and the United Nations Development Programme had also agreed to help identify the suspect material.

TAIPEI, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Taiwan petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics confirmed on Friday that it was the source of 3,000 tonnes of mysterious waste found in Cambodia but said it had been certified as non-toxic.

''It's a misunderstanding. The waste was not toxic,'' said a spokesman for Formosa, Taiwan's top industrial enterprise, who asked that his name not be used.

The spokesman said the material was industrial waste that did contain traces of mercury but had been certified by Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration as being well below hazardous levels and was safe for landfill disposal.

Cambodia's cabinet was taking no chances, decreeing that the waste must be returned to Taiwan even before hearing the results of toxicology tests ordered from Hong Kong.

''Our position is clear,'' environment minister Mok Mareth said after the cabinet decision. ''We must send it back as soon as possible. We cannot keep it any longer in Cambodia. Otherwise it will kill all Cambodian people.''

Officials said on Tuesday the 3,000 tonnes of waste had been found near the southern port of Sihanoukville, describing it as packed in triple-layer plastic bags labelled cement materials -- though some bore skull-and-crossbones danger signs.

Environmental inspectors said they suspected it included compressed ash from an industrial waste incinerator and may include hazardous materials, such as lead, zinc or mercury.

Mok Mareth said he was certain the material was toxic.

Cambodian residents reportedly had salvaged some of the bags for rice storage before being alerted to the potential danger.

Cambodia organised an inter-ministerial panel to investigate and technical experts from Singapore and the U.N. Development Programme were summoned to help analyse the material.

Senior Cambodian police said no arrests had been made.

Formosa had said previously it believed was the source of the waste, but it was unsure until Friday, when it was able to match the waste with shipping details.

Formosa said the importing agent Jade Fortune Co of Taipei was the firm it had hired to export the shipment.

''That's who shipped it for us,'' the spokesman said.

The Formosa spokesman said Jade Fortune would be obliged to take the shipment back if it were returned by Cambodia.

To his knowledge, the Formosa official added, none of the bags carried skull-and-crossbones warnings.

Jade Fortune executive Chang Kuo-lung told Reuters the shipment had been approved by Taiwan and Cambodian authorities and was inspected on its arrival in Cambodia on November 30.

He also denied that the bags carried toxicity warnings.

''Why would something that's not contaminated have skulls and crossbones on it?'' Chang said.

Chang was non-committal on whether Jade Fortune would accept the returned shipment, saying that was a matter for the governments of Taiwan and Cambodia, which have no diplomatic ties.

Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration said it had approved the shipment merely for domestic disposal, not export, and said it had fined Formosa for exporting the waste without proper approval.

Formosa would not comment on the reported fine.

The wayfaring waste, if returned, was likely to become a symbol of Taiwan's growing problems with waste disposal.

Formosa said the material found in Cambodia dated back to 1993, when it was first certified it as having safely low levels of mercury contamination.

The problem was that no landfill in Taiwan would take it in the face of protests by local opponents, Formosa said.

Even before reports of the shipment's arrival in Cambodia, EPA inspectors making routine checks of Formosa storage sites found the waste missing and launched an inquiry that resulted in the late November fines, EPA officials said.

PHNOM PENH, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Cambodia plans to send back to Taiwan nearly 3,000 tonnes of suspected toxic waste imported from the island, Environment Minister Mok Mareth said on Friday.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting on Friday morning with the full backing of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who is currently visiting Beijing, he told Reuters.

''Our position is clear -- we must send it back as soon as possible,'' Mok Mareth said. ''We cannot keep it any longer in Cambodia, otherwise it will kill all Cambodian people.''

Mareth said he was certain the waste material, in triple layer plastic sacks stamped with skull-and-crossbone danger signs, was toxic.

Legal steps were being taken in Cambodia to return the waste, he added.

''Whoever transported this to Cambodia, must export it back. We have no money for transportation and we are scared to get closer to the site,'' said the minister.

The waste shipment, labelled cement materials, was imported from Taiwan and dumped at a site 10 km (six miles) outside Cambodia's southern port town of Sihanoukville earlier this month.

Environment officials who have visited the site suspect that the waste includes compressed ash from an industrial waste incinerator and may include hazardous materials, such as lead, zinc or mercury.

Samples of the waste have been sent to Hong Kong for testing - but no results have yet been released. Cambodia lacks the facilities or expertise itself to carry out any testing.

A five member team from an inter-ministerial panel set up this week to investigate the dumping incident was travelling to Sihanoukville on Friday.

The team plans to question customs and port officials and take away documents connected to the case.

It will also ask local authorities to fence off the area around the dump site, to keep villagers away.

Local residents who discovered the dump emptied the rubble out of the sacks and carried them off to store rice before they were alerted to the potential danger.

The material was dumped in a watershed area and environment officials are concerned it could seep into the ground and contaminate water supplies.

Senior Cambodian police officials who are investigating the case said no arrests had been made so far.

Technical experts from Singapore and the United Nations Development Programme are expected to arrive in Cambodia shortly to help analyse the suspect material.

By Huw Watkin

Phnom Penh -- Cambodian authorities have arrested the head of a local company for dumping a shipment of toxic waste which is believed to have killed at least two people.

Interior Minister Sar Kheng would not reveal the man's name, but yesterday said the head of the Huth Vuthy import-export company had been detained pending further investigations into the importation of about 3000 tonnes of heavy metal-contaminated waste from Taiwan.

The discovery of a 200-tonne dump of the material, and reports that more may have been disposed of in offshore fishing grounds, has incensed the country's new Government, with the Council of Ministers yesterday devoting a day of meetings to the issue.

Information Minister Lu Lay Sreng said a state of emergency had been called in an attempt to protect the health of people living near the dump, close to the southern port of Sihanoukville.

"Already two people have died and I appeal to the Sihanoukville authorities to evacuate people from the area surrounding the dump," he said.

Environment Minister Mok Mareth said the waste would be repatriated to Taiwan and those responsible for its importation would be prosecuted.

"Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered me to prosecute all people involved in the importation, and to investigate ways to send this waste back to Taiwan," he said.

"We must send it back as soon as possible . . . We cannot keep it any longer in Cambodia, otherwise it will kill all Cambodian people."

According to a German news agency report from Taipei, a Taiwanese petrochemical company was fined $US1000 ($1612) earlier this week for exporting the waste to Cambodia without official approval.

The report quoted an official from Taiwan's Environmental Protection Agency who said the Formosa Plastics company could face further legal action.

"If Cambodia determines the waste is (still) toxic and entered Cambodia illegally, we will ask Formosa Plastics to retrieve it and impose a stiffer fine," the official reportedly said.

By Puy Kea

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 19 (Kyodo) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened Saturday to suspend any government officials, including ministers, found to be involved in importing toxic waste from Taiwan.

''Government officials who are involved in the matter will have to face the law. From this afternoon, they will be suspended from work,'' he told reporters, adding that those officials included customs and port officers.

About 3,000 tons of materials described in customs documents as ''construction waste'' arrived by ship Nov. 30 and was dumped four days later on the outskirts of Sihanoukville, some 230 kilometers southwest of Phnom Penh, according to customs officials.

The waste was shipped in polyester bags labeled as originating from a plastics company in Taiwan.

Top Cambodian environmental officials said they suspect the materials include compressed ash from an industrial waste incinerator and chemicals hazardous to health.

Local villagers who had scavenged the area reportedly suffered skin rashes and other symptoms, according to a pollution control officer, but those reports could not be independently verified.

Environment Minister Mok Mareth told Kyodo News on Saturday that the Cambodian government has appealed to international organizations involved with environmental issues to help examine the waste.

He said he heard two villagers have died and five others are sick, but it is unclear whether those were affected by the waste.

The government has appealed to locals not to go near the site, Mok Mareth said.

''At least 100 people are involved in the case because it is not normal to import 3,000 tons to one country,'' he said.

A local company president who imported the waste has been detained, according to the environment minister.

Hun Sen described the case as serious, saying ''I think it is heavier than the bombardment that the United States fired into Iraq in the last few days.''

Hun Sen appealed to the United Nations, World Health Organization and environment-related international organizations to provide Cambodia facilities to protect against the waste.

He also said the Chinese ambassador to Cambodia has agreed to seek the return of the waste to Taiwan.

Heng Nareth, deputy director of Cambodia's pollution control department, said the waste was not nuclear.

''I believe it comes from an industrial waste incinerator plant'' and contains some heavy metals such as mercury, zinc, chrome or lead that could affect human health, he said.

The waste fills an area roughly 30 meters by 40 meters, and consists mostly of white and gray stones and fine dirt. No warning signs were displayed at the site.

The Environment Ministry has neither the equipment nor expertise to analyze the waste, Heng Nareth said.

Hun Sen said Cambodia has banned importation of waste into the country since 1990.

PHNOM PENH, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Thousands of people attacked customs offices in Cambodia's main seaport on Saturday in a protest against a dump of Taiwanese waste that may have caused two deaths and sickened other people, state officials said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen demanded that the 3,000 tonnes of industrial waste be sent back home immediately. He appealed for help from the United Nations, World Health Organisation and relevant environmental agencies in resolving the matter.

State officials said several thousand protesters -- dock workers and local residents -- had stormed local customs offices in Sihanoukville which had cleared the waste shipment for import on December 4.

''...Angry demonstrators walked to the customs compound and the offices of the economic police and attacked them. I'm not sure how much damage they caused, but they smashed the offices,'' Cambodian co-defence minister Tea Banh told Reuters.

Disturbances continued into the late afternoon on Saturday.

Cambodian Health [Secretary of State] Mam Bunheng said at least two recent deaths and five cases of dizziness appeared connected to the waste haul, which was dumped about 10 km (six miles) from Sihanoukville.

''Those people who are sick are all workers at Sihanoukville port. They carried the sacks of Taiwanese waste from the ship,'' he told Reuters.

Taiwanese petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics (1301.TW) said on Friday it had sent the waste to Cambodia but it had been previously certified safe for landfill disposal.

Cambodian Environment Minister Mok Mareth said he believed the material was still dangerous.

Cambodian environmental inspectors suspected the waste included compressed ash from an industrial waste incinerator and also hazardous materials such as lead, zinc or mercury.

''Even though the material was 20 years old, I believe the toxicity still remains,'' Mok Mareth said. ''There is panic among people living in areas surrounding the dump site.

''I'm also worried that the waste is in a watershed area. Last week, it rained, so we are still very concerned about the degradation of the waste and that mercury could seep into the ground and contaminate water supplies.''

Cambodian officials said some small samples of the waste had been taken to Hong Kong for testing but no results had yet been released. Cambodia lacks the facilities and expertise itself to carry out any testing, they said.

Cambodian lawyers were drafting steps to ensure the waste was returned to Taiwan and U.N. technical experts were expected to arrive on Monday to help analyse the dump.

Hun Sen said he was extremely concerned. ''The waste must be shipped out immediately. I appeal to the United Nations and the World Health Organisation and all the relevant environmental organisations to provide facilities to solve this problem.''

The prime minister said any officials involved in importing the waste into Cambodia would be suspended from their posts.

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia, Dec 20 (Reuters) - One rioter died on Sunday morning as 1,000 people stormed offices of local authorities in the Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville, police said on Sunday.

Chanting dock workers and residents were protesting against allegedly toxic waste imports from Taiwan that may have killed two people and sickened others.

In a second day of unrest, protesters burst into the offices of the Cambodian Shipping Agency Broker, KAMSHAB, near the port and began throwing office furniture from the top floor of the government agency.

''One demonstrator died when he was trying to take property from the government building of KAMSHAB. He fell out of the building,'' said Kheng Wicheth, chief of an immigration police base at the scene of the violence.

Two passersby were also injured by falling furniture, he added. The crowds later burnt some office furniture and a motorcycle.

The protests were aimed against company and government officials who had cleared the import of 3,000 tonnes of industrial waste from Taiwan petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics.

The waste had been dumped about 10 km (six miles) from Sihanoukville. It is believed by local environmental inspectors to be compressed ash from an industrial waste incinerator and to also contain hazardous material such as lead, zinc and mercury.

Formosa Plastics has said the material is industrial waste that did contain traces of mercury, but had been certified by Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration as being well below hazardous levels and was safe for landfill disposal.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has demanded that the waste be sent back to Taiwan immediately and appealed for help from the United Nations, World Health Organisation and other world environment agencies to resolve the problem.

Health [Secretary of State] Mam Bunheng said the deaths of at least two people and five cases of dizziness appeared connected to those involved with the movement of the waste.

Kheng Wicheth said the demonstration had spun out of control and that police lacked equipment to control the crowds.

One of the protesters, Hen Yon, 42, who lives near the dump site said local people were angry and frustrated.

''I want the corrupt officials to send back home the waste immediately,'' he told Reuters. ''I worry about my family's health because of the Taiwanese waste.''

Premier Hun Sen has warned that any government official found to be involved in the incident would be suspended and punished.

The director of a Cambodian company that imported the waste is still being questioned by police.

Cambodia's environment minister, Mok Mareth, told Reuters on Sunday that work would begin immediately to prevent the waste contaminating water supplies.

''We need to cover the waste immediately with plastic so it will prevent any further damage to the surrounding area,'' he said. ''We will use bulldozers and tractors to create a protective soil wall around the dump.''

Samples of the waste have been taken to Hong Kong for testing, but no results have been released. Cambodia lacks the facilities and expertise to carry out any testing itself.

A technical expert from the United Nations is expected to arrive in Cambodia on Monday to help analyse the suspect material.

By Ouk Navouth

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia (AP) -- Hundreds of Cambodians fled this seaport town today, fearing exposure to toxic waste and violent protests against those responsible for allowing it into the country.

Buses, taxis and the morning train leaving Sihanoukville for the capital, Phnom Penh, 115 miles to the north, were packed. Police said at least four people were killed and 13 injured in accidents on the bumpy, narrow road north.

About 3,000 tons of waste were deposited a few miles from the town two weeks ago. The dump was found by Environment Ministry investigators last week, and tensions have risen amid reports the waste may be toxic.

Prince Norodom Ranariddh, president of the National Assembly, said he was told that a $3 million bribe had been paid to officials to allow the waste into Cambodia from Taiwan.

Among those fleeing Sihanoukville were customs officials, who protesters blamed for letting the waste into the country.

In one accident, a pickup truck loaded with more than 20 people collided with a minivan, killing at least one person and injuring several.

''We were escaping because we were afraid of death, only to be injured in this accident,'' injured passenger Preap Nary, 35, said at a Sihanoukville hospital. Her three children also were hurt.

The waste was dumped in white garbage bags in an open area. Villagers went through the waste, scavenging some of the plastic bags to store rice and exposing the waste, which resembles blocks of cement and dirt.

Residents who rummaged through the waste have complained that they have suffered from exhaustion and diarrhea.

Bulldozers pushed mounds of earth around the dump site Sunday. Environment officials said they would cover the waste with plastic tarpaulins until the material can be removed.

Tensions reached the boiling point after the death of a port worker who reportedly cleaned the hold of the ship that brought the waste from Taiwan.

Although doctors have not established a clear link between the waste and the death, protesters took to the streets Saturday and threw rocks at an office at the port.

On Sunday, demonstrators ransacked a hotel they believed was owned by a company linked to the waste. Police fired assault rifles over the heads of the mob and dispersed it after the protesters wrecked the home of Deputy Governor Khim Bo.

Today, about 60 demonstrators marched on district offices where the waste was dumped.

Environment Minister Mok Mareth has blamed an unidentified government official and port authorities for letting the waste into the country.

The Taiwanese company that sent the waste has said it obtained permits from Taiwanese and Cambodian authorities. Cambodia is seeking to return the waste to Taiwan, which has so far refused.

The company, Formosa Plastics Corp., has denied the material is toxic but admitted it contains traces of mercury, which can be poisonous.

TAIPEI, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Taiwan on Monday took its first steps toward defusing a deadly uproar over a local firm's export of possibly toxic waste to Cambodia, seeking to assist Phnom Penh's inquiry into the case.

The foreign ministry said Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration hoped to send a team to Phmon Penh to help assess the nature and toxicity of the waste, which was found dumped outside the port of Sihanoukville in early December.

''We're willing to help,'' a foreign ministry statement said.

The environmental agency said it hoped Cambodian officials would protect the integrity of the dump site and allow Taiwan experts to join the inquiry to determine how it got there.

''We want to see where the responsibility lies,'' the agency said in a statement.

Taiwan's Formosa Plastics (1301.TW) has acknowledged being the source of the 3,000 tonnes of waste and that it contained traces of mercury, but said it was certified in Taiwan as safe for landfill disposal.

On Monday, a Formosa executive said the petrochemical giant would respect any Cambodian decision but stopped short of saying it was preparing to bring the waste back to Taiwan.

Taiwan's environmental agency said Formosa would be responsible for returning the waste to Taiwan if it is found to be toxic.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered the waste sent back to Taiwan immediately, not waiting for the results of toxicology tests ordered from Hong Kong and Singapore.

The case has claimed at least one and possibly six lives.

One Cambodian protester died in weekend rioting as more than 1,000 protesters sacked offices of local authorities who allowed the waste to be imported.

Health authorities were looking into unconfirmed reports that two Sihanoukville residents had died and five suffered dizziness after coming into contact with the waste.

Three people were reported killed on Monday in road accidents as they fled the affected area.

Cambodian residents reportedly had salvaged some of the bags for rice storage before being alerted to the potential danger.

As of Monday, 30 Sihanoukville customs, port and police officials, including their chiefs, had been suspended as the investigation continued, officials said.

Cambodian inspectors said some of the waste appeared to be compressed ash from an industrial waste incinerator, possibly containing hazardous material such as lead, zinc and mercury.

Taiwan's foreign ministry, which has no diplomatic ties with Phnom Penh, said action was impossible without fuller details of the incident, noting that it had been relying on news reports.

Cambodia recognises only Taiwan's arch rival, China.

Formosa said the material found in Cambodia actually dated back to 1993, when it was first certified it as having safely low levels of mercury contamination.

The problem was no landfill in Taiwan would take it in the face of protests by local opponents, Formosa said.

By Chhay Sophal

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Three people were killed and 14 injured in car crashes while fleeing Cambodia's southern province of Sihanoukville on Monday amid fears over suspected toxic waste dumped there by a Taiwan firm.

''Many people are fleeing Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh because they are worried about their houses, most were children under the age of 10,'' the city's police commissioner Em Bunusath told Reuters.

The accidents occurred in heavy rain which had triggered fears of water contamination from the waste, he said.

''We are worried that more people will flee because they are afraid and concerned about their family's health,'' he said.

One of the crash victims, Preap Navy, 35, said from her hospital bed that all three of her sons had been hurt.

''I was taking my children to Phnom Penh to escape fom Sihanoukville. Everyone is afraid of the waste,'' she said.

The streets of the port city Sihanoukville were calm on Monday after a weekend of violent protests by residents demonstrating against the dumping of the waste.

All schools were closed for the day and many government offices shut as staff stayed away from work.

But some 50 residents staying about 10 km (six miles) from the port city, where the 3,000 tonnes of waste was dumped, attacked and ransacked a local government office on Monday and stopped only when police intervened, witnesses said.

At least one rioter was killed on Sunday in a rampage by more than 1,000 people as protesters sacked offices of local authorities who had allowed the waste to be imported. On Saturday, crowds had attacked the local customs offices.

The government moved quickly to defuse the situation. Officials said on Monday that 30 Sihanoukville customs, port and local police officials, including their chiefs, had been suspended as investigations continued into the waste shipment.

The industrial waste was exported by Taiwan petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics.

The waste is believed by local environmental inspectors to be compressed ash from an industrial waste incinerator and to also contain hazardous material such as lead, zinc and mercury.

Health Minister Mam Bunheng had said the deaths of at least two local residents and five cases of dizziness appeared connected to their involvement in movement of the waste.

Formosa Plastics has said the material is industrial waste with traces of mercury, but had been certified by Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration as being well below hazardous levels and safe for landfill disposal.

Cambodia's deputy Prime Minister, Sar Kheng, appeared on state run television on Sunday night, appealing to Sihanoukville's residents to remain calm.

He promised that the government was doing all it could to ensure that the waste was speedily returned to Taiwan.

''The government appeals to the United Nations, the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Environment Programme...so the waste can be brought back to the original country,'' he said.

''The government has set up an investigation committee to find out whoever is involved in the case must be punished.''

Prime Minister Hun Sen has said the waste must be sent back to Taiwan immediately and appealed for international assistance to resolve the problem.

The director of a Cambodian company that imported the waste was still being questioned by police.

Angry mobs also attacked the home of Sihanoukville's first deputy governor, Khim Bo.

''They destroyed everything; they burnt his Toyota Landcruiser, a motorbike and furniture. They even took money from his house,'' said Cambodia's environment minister, Mok Mareth, who was in Sihanoukville to assess the situation.

Officials have already begun work to prevent the waste, which had been dumped in a watershed area, from contaminating the water supplies.

Bulldozers are digging protective walls and the waste is being covered by plastic sheeting.

Samples of the waste are to be sent to Hong Kong for testing as Cambodia lacks the facilities and expertise to carry out any testing itself, officials said.

By William Ide

TAIPEI, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Taipei urged Phonm Penh on Tuesday to launch a thorough inquiry into a local firm's export of possibly toxic waste to Cambodia, saying it was ''irrational'' to blame Taiwan without sufficient evidence.

''If they haven't gone through proper, scientific certification procedures before laying all the blame on it, the Republic of China cannot accept that,'' said Henry Chen, a foreign ministry spokesman. ''One cannot make groundless accusations.''

''What they are doing is irrational,'' Chen added.

The uproar intensified on Tuesday with police in Cambodia's southern province of Sihanoukville saying nearly 50,000 residents had fled their homes because of the 3,000 tonnes of industrial waste exported by Taiwan's Formosa Plastics Corp.

The waste bearing skull-and-crossbones danger signs was found dumped early this month 10 km (six miles) from Sihanoukville, which has a population of just over 150,000.

Cambodian inspectors said some of the waste appeared to be compressed ash from an industrial waste incinerator, possibly containing hazardous material such as lead, zinc and mercury.

Sihanoukville's police commissioner, Em Bun Sath, told Reuters four people died and 13 were injured in car crashes on Monday as they left the port city in heavy rain.

The Taiwan foreign ministry spokesman said Taipei, which does not have formal ties with Phonm Penh, had contacted Cambodian officials in Vietnam's Ho Chih Minh city, but had yet to receive any response.

Cambodia recognises only Taiwan's arch rival, China.

Chen reiterated that Taiwan was willing to take responsibility but only after the truth was uncovered.

''If it is found that the waste is truly the source of the problem then we will ask the local company to fulfil its responsibility,'' Chen said.

Formosa Plastics has acknowledged being the source of the waste but said it was certified in Taiwan as safe for landfill disposal.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered the waste sent back to Taiwan immediately, without waiting for the results of toxicology tests ordered from Hong Kong and Singapore.

Health [Secretary of State] Mam Bunheng said the deaths of at least two local residents and five cases of dizziness appeared linked to involvement in the movement of the waste.

One Cambodian protester died in weekend rioting as more than 1,000 protesters sacked offices of local authorities who allowed the waste to be imported.

As of Monday, 30 Sihanoukville customs, port and police officials, including their chiefs, had been suspended as the investigation continued, officials said.

Late on Monday, a Formosa executive said the petrochemical giant would respect any Cambodian decision, stopping short of saying it was preparing to bring the waste back to Taiwan.

Formosa said the material found in Cambodia actually dated back to 1993, when it was first certified as having safely low levels of mercury contamination.

The problem was no landfill in Taiwan would take it in the face of protests by local opponents, Formosa said.

By Chhay Sophal

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Nearly 50,000 people have fled in panic from Cambodia's southern province of Sihanoukville since the weekend in fear of waste believed to be toxic dumped by a Taiwan firm, police said on Tuesday.

The exodus left four more people dead and 13 injured in car crashes on Monday as they fled the port in heavy rain, local police commissioner Em Bun Sath told Reuters.

''Some 30 percent of residents of Sihanoukville province have left because they are worried,'' he said.

More than 200 military police and soldiers arrived in Sihanoukville city, about 10 km (six miles) from the waste site, to guard against a repeat of weekend protests against the dumping in which one other person was killed and several injured.

Officials raised new health concerns on Tuesday, saying the province's water supply could have been contaminated by the waste, which they believe contains hazardous materials such as lead, zinc and mercury, and bears skull-and-crossbones danger signs.

Health [Secretary of State] Mam Bunheng said the deaths of at least two residents and five cases of dizziness appeared linked to their involvement in the movement of the waste.

Although Sihanoukville was calm on Tuesday, schools remained closed for a second day along with many government offices and the port, Cambodia's main sea gateway.

At the weekend, more than 1,000 protesters sacked the offices of officials who allowed import of the waste, which originated from Taiwan petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics. Thirty officials from the local customs, port and police have been suspended.

Deputy chief of the provincial cabinet Sok Than told Reuters poor people in Sihanoukville city had carried off some of the waste to use to repair their houses before dumping it near water sources when they heard it was dangerous.

''Some were using the waste with cement to make flooring as stone is expensive. When they heard it was dangerous, they took it and left it on the streets and places near water like streams.''

The head of the local water authority, Prak Chanroeun, told Reuters his office had sent water samples to be tested in Phnom Penh but results were not yet available.

''I can't say now whether we can use the water or not but we are still supplying it. So far we don't have any information about any problem with our water. We will inform the people after the results of the tests become available.''

The authority supplies 30,000 of the province's 150,000 people.

Acting head of state Prince Norodom Ranariddh told reporters he believed the waste was "very dangerous'' and the government had vowed to track down the culprits.

"I think there is all kinds of waste,'' he said. ''When no country wants to stock it on its soil it means it's very poisonous.''

He said Prime Minister Hun Sen had said bribes paid to accept the waste from the Taiwan firm may have totalled $3 million.

Environment Minister Mok Mareth sought to stem the exodus, telling reporters any harmful effect from the waste would be limited to the area in which it had been dumped.

The waste is believed by local environmental inspectors to be compressed ash from an industrial waste incinerator. Formosa Plastics has said it has mercury traces, but had been certified by Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration as well below hazardous levels and safe for landfill disposal.

Mok Mareth rejected this: "Mercury is a toxic substance. If they thought this waste was really not hazardous why did they ship it to Cambodia at such a high cost?''

Taiwan has said its EPA hoped to send a team to assess the waste, which Hun Sen has ordered sent back to Taiwan without waiting for results of tests.

On Tuesday, Taiwan Foreign Finistry spokesman Henry Chen urged Phnom Penh to launch an inquiry, calling it ''irrational'' to blame Taiwan without sufficient evidence.

''If it is found that the waste is truly the source of the problem then we will ask the local company to fulfil its responsibility,'' he said.

Late on Monday, a Formosa executive said the firm would respect any Cambodian decision, but stopped short of saying it was preparing to bring the waste back to Taiwan.

The firm said the waste dated back to 1993 and the problem was no landfill in Taiwan would take it given local protests.

Mok Mareth said containers and storage materials were being sent to the dump to collect and contain the waste. Neighbouring Vietnam was sending protective uniforms for workers there.

AGENCIES in Sihanoukville -- Four people died in road accidents yesterday as up to 1,000 people fled the southern province of Sihanoukville, fearing exposure to toxic waste.

All transport leaving Sihanoukville for the capital, Phnom Penh, was packed. Police said at least seven accidents had been reported.

Police Commissioner Em Bun Sath said four people had been killed and 13 injured.

Prince Norodom Ranariddh, President of the National Assembly, said he had been told a US$3 million (HK$23.2 million) bribe had been paid to allow the waste into the country from Taiwan.

Secretary of State for Rural Development Ly Thuch said the Prince and Prime Minister Hun Sen had agreed to punish those responsible "for such a disaster".

Among those leaving Sihanoukville were Customs officials, blamed by protesters for allowing the waste in, and their families.

About 60 demonstrators marched on district offices 10km north of the port of Sihanoukville, near where 200 tonnes of the 3,000-tonne consignment was dumped about two weeks ago without public warning. More is feared to have been dumped offshore.

Two workers from the human rights group Licadho were arrested for allegedly inciting protesters during violent demonstrations on Sunday.

A Licadho official in Phnom Penh said the workers had only been monitoring the protests.

Tensions have steadily risen since news of the dump emerged a week ago.

They reached boiling point after the death of a port worker said to have cleaned the hold of the ship that brought the waste from Taiwan.

Doctors have not established a link between the waste and his death.

Formosa Plastics, the Taiwanese company which sent the waste, has said it obtained permits from Taiwanese and Cambodian authorities. It says the material is not toxic, but admits it contains traces of mercury, which is highly poisonous in large doses.

Local environmental inspectors believe the waste is compressed ash from an industrial waste incinerator which also contains lead and zinc.

Samples are to be sent to Hong Kong for testing.

By Chhay Sophal

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia (Reuters) - Thai military scientists with geiger counters Tuesday inspected Taiwanese industrial waste dumped in southern Cambodia after a panicked exodus of thousands of people fearing chemical poisoning.

More than 10,000 had fled the province of Sihanoukville since the weekend, which saw violent protests against officials who allowed petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics to dump the waste, said Kong Saran, head of the provincial information department.

Earlier, local police chief Em Bun Sath said up to a third of the province's 150,000 population had fled.

Police said four people had died and 13 had been hurt in car crashes Monday as they fled Sihanoukville in heavy rain, bringing reported deaths blamed on the dumping to seven.

Officials raised new health concerns Tuesday, saying the province's water supply could have been contaminated by the waste, which they believe contains hazardous materials such as lead, zinc and mercury, and bears skull-and-crossbones danger signs.

Thai Army specialists, including nuclear scientists and chemists, said they had detected no abnormal radiation at the dump, about 10 km (six miles) from Sihanoukville city, but said samples would be taken to test it for any chemical hazard.

''So far our man has determined the level of radiation is not significant and not a health hazard. It's just normal background radiation,'' said Colonel Chalermsuk Yugala.

''Chemical-wise, I can't yet give you and answer -- it could be toxic; it could be non-toxic.''

Although there was no violence in Sihanoukville Tuesday, schools remained closed for a second day along with many government offices and the port, Cambodia's main sea gateway.

Over 200 military police and soldiers arrived early Tuesday to prevent a repeat of the violence, in which one person was killed and several injured as mobs sacked government offices.

Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng and Environment Minister Mok Mareth appealed for calm, saying the waste was not as dangerous as people feared and would be shipped out of Cambodia.

Officials said protective suits for 500 workers assigned to gather up the waste had arrived from Singapore and Vietnam.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered the waste sent back to Taiwan without waiting for test results, but Taiwan's Foreign Ministry urged Phnom Penh to launch an inquiry, calling it irrational to blame Taiwan without sufficient evidence.

''If it is found that the waste is truly the source of the problem then we will ask the local company to fulfil its responsibility,'' said ministry spokesman Henry Chen.

Formosa Plastics has said the waste has mercury traces, but had been certified by Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration as unhazardous and safe for landfill disposal.

Mok Mareth rejected this: ''If they thought this waste was really not hazardous, why did they ship it to Cambodia?''

Acting head of state Prince Norodom Ranariddh told reporters he believed the waste was ''very dangerous.''

Formosa Plastics said it would respect any Cambodian decision, but stopped short of saying it was preparing to bring the waste back to Taiwan. It said it dated back to 1993 and no landfill in Taiwan would take it, because of local protests.

Mok Mareth told Reuters he was delighted the waste was not radioactive, but added: ''There are indications of at least a level of mercury, lead and other materials.''

He said test results, also being carried out by Hong Kong and Singaporean scientists, would be available within two days.

Frightened citizens continued to leave Sihanoukville Tuesday -- the poor by train and the wealthier by bus or car.

''All 11 members of my family have left already. I am just here to look after the restaurant,'' said restaurateur Sam Phala ''We are scared the rain could spread the poison into the water.''

Deputy chief of the provincial cabinet Sok Than told Reuters poor people had carried off some waste to repair homes before dumping it near water sources when they heard it was dangerous.

''Some were using the waste with cement to make flooring as stone is expensive. When they heard it was dangerous, they took it and left it on the streets and places near water like streams.''

The head of the local water authority, Prak Chanroeun, told Reuters that samples had been sent to Phnom Penh for tests.

By Puy Kea

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 22 (Kyodo) -- Around 10,000 people have fled Cambodia's southern seaport town of Sihanoukville since news broke several days ago that illegally imported toxic waste has been dumped on the town's outskirts, Interior Ministry officials said Tuesday.

The officials said many residents have fled in the mistaken belief that the 3,000 tons of industrial waste, imported from Taiwan on Nov. 30 and dumped four days later about 10 kilometers outside the town, is radioactive.

The Environment Ministry has appealed over television and radio for calm, saying the waste, believed to be compressed industrial ash, is not radioactive, though it has been found to contain mercury.

Local police said buses plying between Sihanoukville and the capital of Phnom Penh, located 230 km north, continue to be jam-packed with passengers.

The exodus has led to an increase in the number of road accidents, which have claimed four lives and left 17 people injured over the past few days, they said.

Last weekend, several hundred people rallied in Sihanoukville, accusing local authorities of corruption and demanding the waste be sent back to where it originated.

At least one demonstrator was killed and five military police injured in the protest.

The president of the local company that imported the waste has been arrested, while several customs officials and inspectors suspected of conspiring with the company to import it have been suspended.

National Assembly President Prince Norodom Ranariddh said Monday he had heard from Prime Minister Hun Sen that the company spent 3 million dollars to bribe local officials to allow the waste to be imported.

Sihanoukville Gov. Khem Bo told Kyodo News the government mobilized 500 soldiers to package the waste.

Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng, who doubles as co-minister of the interior, told reporters the government is preparing oil barrels and shipping containers to package the waste for shipment out of the country as soon as possible.

By Chris Fontaine

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia (AP) -- Soldiers armed with shovels and wearing

protective suits began cleaning up 3,000 tons of suspected toxic waste

today as government officials demanded a Taiwanese company pay compensation

for dumping it in Cambodia.

''We have to force this company to pay damages,'' Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng said as he watched the soldiers work.

Officials said they hoped the start of the cleanup would ease the hysteria that has gripped this coastal town since the waste was discovered more than a week ago.

Thousands have fled Sihanoukville, fearful the waste may damage their health or kill them.

Meanwhile, two human rights workers were charged for allegedly leading an angry mob that ransacked a deputy governor's house over the weekend when a protest over the waste turned into a riot.

The organization they work for has vehemently denied the allegations, and international human rights groups registered concern over their arrest.

Environment Minister Mok Mareth said initial tests conducted on samples of the waste have shown it contains the poisonous metal mercury, but the level of the toxicity is not yet known.

''There is mercury, but the quantity of the mercury must be determined by chemical analysis,'' Mok Mareth said. ''It is not very dangerous as long as we can collect it into canisters.''

A team of chemical experts from the Thai army concluded the material is not radioactive, as Mok Mareth and other Cambodian officials had previously alleged.

A dockworker mysteriously died a few days after he cleaned the hold of the

ship that brought the waste. News of the death added to the hysteria.

A train leaving Sihanoukville today was filled to capacity, with people perched on the roof and grabbing space in box cars and flat beds normally used for cargo.

''I've heard that if it rains the poison will rise out of the waste and kill people,'' said Chhey Vanny, who arrived at the train station at dawn.

A total of 12 people have been arrested for allegedly participating in the riot, including two human rights workers from the local organization Licadho. Prosecutors say were the ringleaders.

Licadho officials have strenuously denied the allegations, saying the two were merely monitoring a situation where human rights violations could have occurred.

The two rights workers were formally charged today with robbery and inciting damage to public and private property, chief prosecutor Mam Muth said. He added that he had photographs, video footage and tape recordings as evidence.

The arrests have sparked concerns among international human rights groups.

''These arrests send an ominous message about the Cambodian government's commitment to respecting basic human rights,'' Sidney Jones, an official at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

Officials estimate that it will take more than a week for 600 soldiers working in shifts to pack the waste into plastic-lined oil drums. The barrels will be loaded into three shipping containers and left at the dump site for the time being.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has demanded that the waste be sent back to the company that shipped it to Cambodia, Formosa Plastics Corp. The company has said it obtained the proper permits from the Cambodian authorities to import the waste.

Prince Norodom Ranariddh, president of the National Assembly, has said that a $3 million bribe was paid to government and port officials to allow the waste into the country.

By Puy Kea

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia, Dec. 23 (Kyodo) -- The Cambodian government Wednesday ordered 250 soldiers to repackage hazardous industrial waste which was imported from Taiwan earlier this month.

The soldiers were provided with protective clothing, including gas masks, boots and helmets, and have been ordered to complete the task within 10 days.

The waste arrived in Cambodia on Nov. 30 and was dumped four days later on the outskirts of Sihanoukville, about 230 kilometers from Phnom Penh.

A group of Thai experts, who arrived Tuesday to help analyze the waste, said it contains chemicals which are hazardous to health, including mercury.

The owner of Muth Vuthy, the local company which imported the waste, has been arrested and several senior customs officials and goods inspectors have been suspended from work, charged with taking bribes from the company to allow the waste to be imported.

Prince Norodom Ranariddh, chairman of the National Assembly, told reporters Monday that the company had spent three million dollars in bribing the officials.

At least 10,000 residents in the area have fled to Phnom Penh to avoid the health hazard, while several local schools have been closed because parents have sent their children away from the town.

Four people died and 13 others were injured in traffic accidents following their escape to the capital, according to police in Sihanoukville.

The Taiwan government has promised to take the waste back.

By Chhay Sophal

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia (Reuters) - Soldiers Wednesday began removing dumped industrial waste that sparked weekend riots and a fatal exodus from southern Cambodia, as the government vowed to sue the Taiwanese source of the shipment.

Deputy Premier Sar Kheng called the dumping of 3,000 tons of mercury-contaminated waste in Sihanoukville province a ''scandal.''

''We will file a complaint in a Cambodian court against the Taiwanese company,'' he told reporters after inspecting the dump about 10 km (six miles) from the port city of Sihanoukville.

''We will demand that the company pay for the cleanup work and compensation to the Cambodian people, especially those living in Sihanoukville.''

He did not say when the complaint would be filed against Taiwanese petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics or how much compensation would be demanded.

The Taiwanese firm has said the waste has mercury traces, but had been certified by Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration as unhazardous and safe for landfill disposal.

Cambodian leaders and officials have dismissed this, saying they believe it contains hazardous quantities of materials such as lead, zinc and mercury. They want the waste sent back to Taiwan.

Wednesday, 500 soldiers, clad in chemical suits sent from neighboring Vietnam and Singapore, began shoveling the waste into plastic-lined metal drums which were welded shut.

The waste had been contained in sacks bearing skull-and-crossbones danger signs, but many of these were taken away by local people for rice storage or other purposes.

It was spread over a small hill about 500 meters (yards) from a military camp. It appeared no attempt had been made to bury it.

Officials said it could take more than a week to complete the operation. Samples of the waste have already been sent to Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand for tests. Thai scientists have said initial tests showed no abnormal radiation levels.

Tuesday, local officials said more than 10,000 people had fled Sihanoukville city and its surrounding province since the weekend, fearing chemical contamination. Hundreds more left on the daily train to Phnom Penh Wednesday morning.

Officials have blamed seven deaths on the dumping.

Secretary of State for Health Mam Bunheng has said the deaths of at least two local residents and five cases of dizziness appeared linked to unprotected movement of the waste.

Police said four people died and 13 were hurt in car crashes Monday as they fled Sihanoukville in heavy rain. At the weekend, one person was killed when about 1,000 protesters sacked offices of officials blamed for allowing the import of the waste.

While government ministers have appealed for calm, officials stoked the panic Tuesday by saying the province's water supply could have been contaminated by the waste.

Port officials at Sihanoukville, Cambodia's main sea gateway, said the port was now operating normally. They said ships that had wanted to dock at the weekend and Monday had stayed offshore as they were worried their cargoes might be looted.

Formosa Plastics has said it will respect any Cambodian government decision, but stopped short of saying it was preparing to bring the waste back. It said it dates back to 1993 and no landfill in Taiwan would take it because of local protests.

Taipei has urged Phnom Penh to launch an inquiry, calling it ''irrational'' to blame Taiwan without sufficient evidence. The issue is complicated by the fact that Cambodia recognizes China and has no formal relations with Taiwan.

Sar Kheng said the president of a local firm suspected of helping bring in the waste had been detained for court questioning since Monday. Officials say officers of the local customs, port and police have been suspended over the dumping.

Wednesday, the U.N. Human Rights office in Cambodia and the Asia branch of

New York-Based Human Rights Watch criticized the arrest of two human rights

workers monitoring the protests.

The two, from the local non-governmental organization LICADHO, were charged with robbery and causing damage to property. They were the first rights workers to be arrested since Cambodia began to allow such groups to operate freely about five years ago.

Rights workers said up to 40 people had been arrested after the violence. They said only 10 of these had been seen in jail and the rest were believed to have been taken to military bases.

Cambodia's Interior Ministry spokesman General Khieu Sopheak vowed more ringleaders of violence and looting would be arrested.

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Hundreds of soldiers donned protective suits on Wednesday to clear thousands of tonnes of Taiwanese industrial waste that sparked a panicked exodus from Cambodia's main port and surrounding province.

The port of Sihanoukville was operating normally for shipping despite weekend rioting in which protesters sacked offices of officials blamed for allowing the waste to be imported from Taiwanese petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics, deputy port director Va Sonath told Reuters.

Military officers supervising the cleanup operation said 500 soldiers, clad in chemical suits sent from neighbouring Vietnam and Singapore, would shovel the waste into plastic sacks then seal it in metal drums.

Health [Secretary of State] Mam Bunheng has said the deaths of at least two local residents and five cases of dizziness appeared linked to their involvement in earlier unprotected movement of the waste.

Local officials say more than 10,000 people have fled the port and province of Sihanoukville since the weekend, fearing chemical contamination.

Police said four people died and 13 were hurt in car crashes on Monday as they fled the city in heavy rain, bringing reported deaths blamed on the dumping to seven.

The cleanup supervisors said clearing up the 3,000 tonnes of waste could take up to 10 days.

It would be left at the dump site, about 10 km (six miles) from the port of Sihanoukville until the authorities decided whether it was possible to ship it back to Taiwan, they said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered the waste shipped back without waiting

for results of tests conducted in Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong. Environment Minister Mok Mareth said on Tuesday results would be available within two days.

Formosa Plastics has said it will respect any Cambodian decision, but stopped short of saying it was preparing to bring the waste back to Taiwan.

It has said the waste dates back to 1993 and no landfill in Taiwan would take it because of local protests.

Taipei's Foreign Ministry has urged Phnom Penh to launch an inquiry into the dumping, calling it "irrational" to blame Taiwan without sufficient evidence.

The issue is complicated by the fact that Cambodia recognises China and has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

Cambodian officials believe the waste, which was contained in sacks bearing skull-and-crossbones danger signs, contains hazardous materials such as lead, zinc and mercury.

Formosa Plastics has said the waste has mercury traces, but had been certified by Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration as not hazardous and safe for landfill disposal.

On Tuesday, Thai Army specialists, including chemists and nuclear scientists with Geiger counters, said they had detected no abnormal radiation at the dump. They said samples would be taken to test for any chemical hazard.

The government has sent more than 200 military police and soldiers to Sihanoukville to prevent a repeat of the weekend violence, in which one person was killed and several injured as mobs sacked government offices.

On Wednesday the U.N. Human Rights office in Cambodia and the Asia branch of New York-Based Human Rights Watch criticised the arrest of two human rights workers who monitored the protests.

"The Special Representative is concerned that the detention of the two men will undermine the work of human rights defenders," the U.N. statement said.

It also expressed hope that the international community would respond positively to the government's appeal for assistance in dealing with the hazardous waste.

While government ministers have appealed for calm, on Tuesday officials raised new health concerns by saying the province's water supply could have been contaminated by the waste.

Deputy chief of the provincial cabinet Sok Than told Reuters poor people had carried off some waste to repair homes before dumping it near water sources when they heard it was dangerous.

By William Ide

TAIPEI, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Taiwan environmentalists have gone to Cambodia to collect samples of mercury-tainted waste shipped there by a Taiwan firm, saying Taipei's inaction in the controversy was harming the island's reputation.

''The government seems powerless and the effect on Taiwan in the international arena gets worse each day,'' Joyce Fu of the private Green Formosa Front said on Thursday.

Fu said two Green Formosa members -- seeking to bridge a gap in communication between Taipei and Phnom Penh -- already had some samples.

''The government continues to say all it can get is information from foreign media,'' Fu said. ''They've been working on this for 10 days and have accomplished very little.''

Taipei has no formal ties with Phnom Penh as Cambodia recognises only Taiwan's arch rival, China.

Fu said the Green Formosa team, due back in Taipei on Sunday, had found no evidence to support allegations that anyone had died from contact with the materials. Fu said the waste would be provided to independent experts, the company that shipped it and Taiwan's government.

Environmental officials said they would be pleased to lay their hands on samples of the waste, some of which has been recovered by Cambodian soldiers and isolated.

''We would certainly be willing to take some of the samples,'' said an official of the cabinet's Environmental Protection Administration. ''We would not reject it.''

The agency has pressed Phnom Penh, though to no avail, to allow its representatives to join a local inquiry on the ground in the southern Cambodian port of Sihanoukville, where the waste turned up in early December.

The Environmental Protection Administration said on Thursday it would ask again, this time on behalf of itself, the foreign ministry and Taiwan petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics -- the source of the waste.

Formosa has said the 3,000 tonnes of cement-like material is tainted with mercury but has been certified by the Environmental Protection Administration as safe for landfill disposal.

Green Formosa director T.J. Wu said in a statement faxed from Cambodia that, whatever his investigation finds, Taiwan had no right to dump contaminated waste in other countries.

Cambodia has demanded that Taiwan take the waste back and vowed to sue Formosa Plastics to compensate for the damage the waste had inflicted on Sihanoukville.

By Chhay Sophal

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (Reuters) - Cambodian police said Thursday they were investigating a new case of foreign dumping in the same southern province which saw riots and a fatal mass exodus over mercury-tainted industrial waste from Taiwan.

Police in Sihanoukville said managers of a local firm had been questioned over 650 tons of waste dumped on the main route into the city. The firm said it had imported the waste from South Korea in May, said an officer who did not want to be identified.

Provincial police chief Em Bun Sath said the waste included film for X-rays and magnetic cassette and video tapes. He said he did not know if it was hazardous. Police said the waste had been in sacks which locals had taken to store rice or to make hammocks.

The South Korean embassy said it had no knowledge of the case.

''But it's a very sensitive matter and we will do our best to find out,'' said embassy counselor Kim Kyung-hun. ''As of now we have no information.''

Environment Minister Mok Mareth told Reuters the government had filed suit Thursday against a local firm, Muth Vuthy, for handling a 3,000-tonne shipment of mercury-tainted industrial waste from Taiwanese petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics.

He said the government was also preparing to file suit against the Taiwanese firm for dumping the waste.

''First we have to file suit against the local firm, then we will look for an international lawyer to file a suit against the Taiwanese firm,'' he said.

Wednesday, Cambodian soldiers began loading blocks of the waste into plastic-lined drums and the government, which wants it shipped back to Taiwan, said it would demand compensation.

''We have to look into the damage first before deciding the amount,'' Mok Mareth said.

Taipei has urged Phnom Penh to mount an inquiry, calling it ''irrational'' to blame Taiwan without sufficient evidence.

The Green Formosa Front, a Taiwanese environmental group, issued a statement in Phnom Penh criticizing the Taiwanese government for allowing the shipment and calling on Formosa Plastics to ship back the waste immediately.

''Enterprises which produce this kind of hazardous waste should be capable of disposing of them,'' it said.

Samples have been sent to Hong Kong and Thailand for evaluation. The Japanese Embassy said a scientist from the Japanese environmental agency's Minamata Institute was due in Cambodia Thursday night to help analyze the waste.

The institute is named after Japan's Minamata Bay, where hundreds of people died after eating seafood polluted by mercury compounds dumped into the sea between 1953 and 1960.

The Taiwanese waste, believed to be compressed ash from an industrial incinerator, was spread out in a huge pile on open land about 10 km (six miles) from Sihanoukville city.

It had been in sacks bearing skull-and-crossbones danger signs, but many of these were taken away by local people for rice storage or other purposes.

Officials said local people had also carted off some of the waste to use for home repairs before dumping it near water sources when they heard it was dangerous, raising fears of contamination.

The Taiwan firm has said the waste has mercury traces, but had been certified by Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration as unhazardous and safe for landfill disposal.

Asked what level of such contaminants were acceptable in Cambodia, Mok Marath said:

''No waste at all is allowed to be imported into Cambodia. We cannot keep it here. We are a small country. Why should we keep anybody else's waste?'' he said.

Officials have blamed seven deaths on the dumping and the rioting and panic that followed.

More than 10,000 people have fled Sihanoukville province since the weekend fearing contamination, officials said.

By Ker Munthit

PHNOM PENH (AP) -- An investigator into the illegal importation of 3,000 tons of mercury-tainted waste from Taiwan said today that it is still unclear who authorized the shipment.

The local newspaper Koh Santepheap also reported that a second dump of thousands of tons of waste had been found near the port of Sihanoukville. The waste, resembling videotape, was packed in bags with Korean writing.

Pol Lim, deputy chairman of the committee assigned to investigate the waste from Taiwanese giant Formosa Plastics Corp., said the probe is proceeding slowly because import papers do not show who approved the shipment.

''There are several irregularities in the processing of the papers,'' Pol Lim said. ''We cannot say now who or how many people were involved because we have not been able to establish any concrete evidence.''

His comments contradicted previous assertions from Environment Minister Mok Mareth that the signature of one government official was found on papers seized at the port.

The waste has been blamed for five deaths -- a dockworker who died mysteriously after cleaning the hold of the ship that brought it, and four people killed in road accidents as frightened residents fled the port.

The appearance of foreign waste near Cambodia's only major seaport underscores the long-standing problem of developed nations, which tend to have stronger environmental laws, using poor countries as dumps.

In Taiwan, Lee Chih-chun, general manager of Formosa Plastics, disputed allegations that the company paid bribes of $3 million.

Lee said the Cambodian agent was paid $300,000 for transport and disposal. The company has said it had Cambodian government approval to import the waste.

Taiwanese Prime Minister Vincent Siew ordered officials to investigate and clear up any misunderstandings.

Cambodia's prime minister, Hun Sen, has demanded that the waste be sent back to Taiwan.

Taiwan's Environmental Protection Bureau has said it will send a team to Cambodia with officials from a third country and will order Formosa Plastics to take back the waste if proved hazardous.

Initial tests have shown the waste contains the poisonous metal mercury, but the level of toxicity has yet to be determined. More samples have been sent to Thailand for analysis.

Soldiers armed with shovels and protective rubber suits began packing the waste into plastic-lined oil drums Wednesday. The cleanup is expected to last more than a week.

Twenty-nine customs officials from Sihanoukville were suspended in the scandal, but so far there has been only one arrest.

A court has detained the president of the local import-export company that negotiated the passage of the waste through customs, Sam Moeurn. He faces up to five years in prison for importing a hazardous substance.

By Chris Fontaine

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Initial test results on tons of waste dumped by a Taiwanese firm in Cambodia indicate the mercury level was thousands of times higher than safety standards permit.

The waste, believed to be compressed industrial ash, was dumped a few miles outside Sihanoukville, 115 miles southwest of Phnom Penh, last month and discovered two weeks ago. Villagers living nearby have complained of exhaustion and diarrhea.

Environment Minister Mok Mareth said the first of three analyses of the 3,000 tons of waste showed a mercury content of 675 parts per million. Joyce Fu, a member of the environmentalist Green Formosa Front, said by telephone from Taipei that Taiwan regulations called for less than 0.2 parts per million.

Mok Mareth said he was waiting for two more tests from foreign laboratories before drawing conclusions about the Taiwanese waste.

''I think it is toxic but I cannot say for sure today,'' Mok Mareth said.

The waste was sent by Taiwan's giant Formosa Plastics Corp., and fear over possibly toxic content caused a panicked exodus of residents from the seaport area.

Hundreds of soldiers wearing protective clothing have been packing the waste into barrels and shipping containers. Sihanoukville's deputy governor, Khim Bo, whose home was ransacked by angry citizens in riots over the waste last weekend, said the cleanup could take three to four weeks.

A dock worker died a few days after cleaning the hold of the ship that transported the waste, sparking the riots in normally tranquil Sihanoukville.

Thousands fled the town, and police said four were killed in traffic accidents on the road to the capital.

Lee Chin-chun, general manager of Formosa Plastics, said Thursday that his firm's waste had been treated and was not hazardous. He said the company would take the waste back if asked.

Lee denied Cambodian government reports that $3 million in bribes had been paid to get the shipment past corrupt officials, but acknowledged that the Cambodian agent who handled the transport and disposal received $300,000.

The Cambodian government has suspended 29 port and customs officials and arrested the president of the local company that helped import the waste.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has demanded the waste be sent back and the government has announced plans to sue Formosa Plastics.

A second dump in the area was discovered this week. Mok Mareth said that samples were being taken for analysis from the 800 tons of refuse, described in a May invoice as waste from plastic, oil and steel powder. Newspapers say that the waste resembles video tape and that bags holding it bear Korean writing.

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Preliminary tests on Taiwanese industrial waste dumped in Cambodia showed a high mercury concentration, a Japanese expert said on Friday.

The presence of the waste close to the southern port of Sihanoukville sparked riots at the weekend in which one person was killed as protesters sacked the offices and homes of officials they blamed for allowing the waste to be imported.

Four more people died in a panic exodus of more than 10,000 people who feared contamination.

The Environment Ministry made available a copy of a facsimile from Singaporean testing laboratory Matcor Technology & Services, which said analysis of a soil sample showed a mercury concentration of 675 parts per million.

''The total mercury concentration is very high,'' said Mineshi Sakamoto from the Japanese environmental agency's Minamata Institute.

''According to these results, it's dangerous, but at the moment it's difficult to say more than that,'' Sakamoto, an expert on mercury contamination brought over from Japan by the World Health Organisation, told Reuters.

He spoke in Sihanoukville where he went to visit the dump site of 3,000 tonnes of industrial waste from Taiwanese petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics.

The firm has said the waste had traces of mercury but had been certified by Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration as non-hazardous and safe for landfill disposal.

Secretary of State for Health Mam Bunheng has said that the deaths of at least two residents appeared linked to unprotected movement of the waste.

Sakamoto cautioned that the method used to give the test results was not sophisticated enough to determine the exact nature of the mercury contamination and therefore exactly how dangerous it was. He also said the test results did not show whether the concentration was uniform over the entire shipment.

He said tests on samples he would take back to Japan would determine if the mercury was organic or inorganic. He said organic mercury could cause nerve disorders, while the inorganic type could cause lung and skin problems.

Sakamoto warned that soldiers taking part in an operation to gather up the waste from open ground about 10 km (six miles) from the port city of Sihanoukville should all wear protective clothing and breathing masks and avoid direct contact with their skin.

''If you wear proper protective clothing, then it shouldn't be too much of a problem,'' he said.

Some of the soldiers have discarded protective clothing provided for them complaining about the searing tropical heat.

''They should be wearing their masks and gloves. It's dangerous for them to work without protection,'' Sakamoto said.

George Petersen, country representative of the World Health Organisation, said it was still too early to assess exactly how hazardous the waste was.

''It's difficult to determine. We need to get a clearer understanding of exactly what it is,'' he said. ''Given the volatility of the situation we have to be careful. The potential for social unrest might be more dangerous than the waste itself.''

By Ker Munthit

PHNOM PENH (AP) -- Cambodian investigators said Thursday [December 24] they had failed to uncover who allowed an illegal 3,000-ton shipment of mercury-laden Taiwanese waste to be dumped at a port.

Meanwhile, the daily newspaper Koh Santepheap reported a second waste dump had been found near the port of Sihanoukville, containing thousands of tons of what appeared to be videotape packed in bags with Korean writing.

Pol Lim, deputy chairman of the investigation committee, said the probe is proceeding slowly because import papers do not show who approved the shipment.

''We cannot say now who or how many people were involved because we have

not been able to establish any concrete evidence,'' Pol Lim said.

His comments contradicted previous statements from Environment Minister Mok Mareth that a government official's signature was found on papers seized at the port.

The waste has been blamed for five deaths -- a dockworker who died mysteriously after cleaning the hold of the ship that brought it, and four people killed in road accidents as frightened residents fled the port.

Soldiers armed with shovels and protective rubber suits began packing the waste into plastic-lined oil drums Wednesday. The cleanup is expected to last more than a week.

In Taiwan, Lee Chih-chun, general manager of Formosa Plastics, the company that owned the waste, denied allegations that the company paid bribes of $3 million to get it into Cambodia.

Lee said the Cambodian agent was paid $300,000 for transport and disposal. The company has said it had Cambodian government approval to import the waste.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- Taiwan today criticized Cambodia's effort to involve China in a dispute over 3,000 tons of mercury-tainted waste dumped by a Taiwanese firm, the state-run news agency said.

Cambodia blames five deaths on the waste, believed to compressed industrial ash, which Taiwan's Formosa Plastics Corp. sent there last month. The discovery of the waste two weeks ago led residents of the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville to panic and flee.

Foreign Ministry official Yu Sheng-teh said Cambodia should not have announced the initial test result of the waste's toxic content without consulting Taipei, Taiwan's Central News Agency said.

Cambodian authorities also rejected a Taiwanese offer to send an official team to investigate the waste and sought help from China, Yu said.

''The inappropriate act has caused damage to our international image,'' Yu was quoted as saying. ''It has also hurt our national prestige.''

Cambodia's overture to China threatened to aggravate Taipei's delicate relations with Beijing. China's Communist-ruled government claims sovereignty over Taiwan and considers it a rebel province to be retaken by force if necessary. Cambodia recognizes Beijing.

Taiwanese newspapers reported earlier that Cambodia consulted China about handling the waste and said China approved its request to return the material to Taiwan.

Taiwanese environmentalists have criticized the government for failing to seek a quick solution to the dispute.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Environmental Protection Bureau asked Formosa Plastics to send a delegation to Cambodia this week to collect waste samples and conduct its own

tests. It also asked the company to take back the waste regardless of the test results.

Lee Chih-chun, the company's general manager, said it is willing to abide by the government decision, but he questioned the test result announced by Cambodia that shows the waste has a mercury content of 675 parts per million.

He claimed the waste, with a mercury content as low as 0.096 parts per million, is not hazardous to human beings.

A Cambodian dockworker died a few days after cleaning the hold of the ship that transported the waste, sparking riots in Sihanoukville.

Thousands fled in fear of the waste and violent protests. Police said four people were killed in

traffic accidents on the road to Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh.

PHNOM PENH, Dec 27 (Reuters) - An adviser to the World Health Organisation said on Sunday that mercury-tainted industrial waste from Taiwan dumped in Cambodia may be a long-term health hazard and should be removed as soon as possible.

Mineshi Sakamoto, a mercury poisoning expert from the Japanese environmental agency's Minamata Institute, said available data, including tests conducted in Singapore, were not sufficient to make any firm conclusion about the toxicity of the waste.

His report said that the 3,000 tones of waste, which came from Taiwanese industrial giant Formosa Plastics Corp, did not pose an ''immediate or short-term threat'' to the population of Sihanoukville, the province where it was dumped. But it added:

''As the waste may pose long-term risks to the population in the area, it should be removed as soon as possible in a safe way.''

News of the waste sparked riots in the port of Sihanoukville a week ago in which one person was killed as protesters sacked offices of officials they blamed for allowing its import.

Four more died in a panicked exodus of more than 10,000 people fearing contamination, while the Health Ministry has said the deaths of at least two residents appeared linked to unprotected movement of the waste.

Sakamoto, who was brought in by the WHO to help assess the extent of the problem, said tests he had conducted at the site had detected no abnormal radiation or mercury vapour.

But he said the dump site about 10 km (six miles) from Sihanoukville town should be secured from scavengers, children and other unauthorised persons as well as domestic animals.

He said soldiers and workers involved in clearing the waste should wear protective suits and anyone who had taken waste from the site should notify the authorities to have it removed.

Sakamoto said he was taking samples of the waste for tests in Japan as well as of blood, urine and hair from port workers who had complained of sickness after handling the waste.

On Friday, Sakamoto said preliminary tests results from Singapore released by Cambodia's Environment Ministry showed a ''very high'' and potentially dangerous concentration of mercury.

Analysis of samples from the site showed a total mercury concentration of 675 parts per million but Sakamoto said further tests would be needed to determine the type of mercury concentration and therefore how dangerous it was.

Formosa has said the cement-like material is tainted with mercury but has been certified by Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration as safe for landfill disposal.

The firm said on Saturday it would send environmental experts and lawyers to Cambodia to try resolve the row but stopped short of saying whether it would take back the waste as demanded by Phnom Penh.

Cambodia has threatened to sue Formosa to compensate for the damage the waste had inflicted at Sihanoukville, where it turned up in early December.

Phnom Penh (AP) -- Mercury-laced industrial waste dumped by a

Taiwanese plastics giant poses no immediate health threat but should be moved quickly to avoid one, a World Health Organisation official said.

George Petersen, a representative, confirmed that initial tests of the 3,000 tonnes of waste dumped on the outskirts of the port town of Sihanoukville indicated extremely high concentrations of mercury, but more verification was needed.

Mr Petersen said water samples taken as close as 300 metres from the site showed no detectable levels of mercury.

Five deaths have been blamed on the waste - a dock worker who died a day after cleaning the hold of the ship that brought it from Taiwan, and four people killed in road accidents in a panic-stricken exodus from the city.

Soldiers wearing protective clothing have been packing the waste, which appears to be compressed industrial ash, into plastic-lined oil drums in a clean-up expected to take three to four weeks.

Formosa Plastics, the firm that generated the waste, claimed it was properly treated before being shipped, and offered to take it back if it was proved unsafe.

By Chris Fontaine

Phnom Penh (AP) -- Thousands of tons of mercury-tainted waste dumped in Cambodia pose no immediate health threat but should be moved quickly, a World Health Organization official said Sunday.

WHO representative Georg Petersen confirmed that initial tests of 3,000 tons of waste dumped by a Taiwanese plastics giant on the outskirts of the port town of Sihanoukville showed extremely high concentrations of mercury, but he said verification was needed.

Petersen also said water samples taken as close as 300 yards from the site showed no detectable levels of mercury, meaning residents had nothing to fear as long as the waste is moved soon.

''This is a problem that must be dealt with, but it is not a big emergency,'' Petersen said.

One week ago, a panic-stricken exodus from the town was sparked following the death of a dock worker who cleaned the hold of the ship that brought the waste from Taiwan. Four people fleeing Sihanoukville died in road accidents. Also, unconfirmed reports said a protester died in riots last weekend against officials who allowed the waste into the country.

The death of the dock worker and the hospitalization of five of his co-workers concerned the World Health Organization because symptoms reported by local doctors match those of mercury poisoning.

Petersen said that highly toxic or not, the waste was not deposited in a proper landfill and should be moved immediately to ensure there are no long-term health risks.

Soldiers wearing protective clothing have been packing the waste, which appears to be compressed industrial ash, into plastic-lined oil drums since Wednesday in a cleanup expected to take three to four weeks.

Formosa Plastics Corp., the company that generated the waste, claims it was properly treated before being shipped to Cambodia and offers to take it back if it proves unsafe.

The company denies government assertions that $3 million in bribes were paid to ensure the waste was allowed into Cambodia.

The World Health Organization and a representative from Japan's Minamata Institute examined the dump this weekend and took samples that were sent to Japan on Sunday for analysis. Results are expected at the end of the week.

Taipei (AFP) -- Taiwanese environmental authorities yesterday ordered Formosa Plastics to bring home a shipment of allegedly toxic waste that has stirred controversy in Cambodia.

The firm "must immediately send a team to Cambodia to tackle issues regarding the shipment back to Taiwan", said Fu Shu-chiang, head of the Solid Waste Control Bureau under the Environmental Protection Administration.

Mr Fu said that the consignment contained traces of mercury that surpassed the hazardous level.

The administration also fined Formosa Plastics NT$150,000 (HK$36,300) for violating the law on the disposal of toxic waste material.

[end]

TAIPEI, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Taiwan industrial giant Formosa Plastics Corp said on Wednesday it was sorry that mercury-tainted waste that it shipped to Cambodia had caused an uproar.

''We express our utmost regret to the Cambodian government and its people for causing their disturbance,'' Formosa chairman Wang Yung-ching said in a letter to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen that was made available to reporters.

A team led by lawmaker Tseng Cheng-nung will leave for Phnom Penh on Thursday to try to resolve the dispute, a Formosa spokesman said.

Taipei has no diplomatic ties with Phnom Penh but Tseng has close links with Cambodian authorities.

The spokesman said the team would collect samples and express Formosa's concerns, but did not say when it would take back the 3,000 tonnes of industrial waste.

Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration said samples brought back by environmentalists had tested slightly above safe standards for mercury contamination and urged Formosa to retrieve the shipment.

Local reports said Formosa was considering sending the waste to the United States or Germany.

Formosa had the waste shipped to Cambodia in late November and it was dumped in the port of Sihanoukville.

News of the waste sparked riots in Sihanoukville in which one person reportedly was killed as protesters sacked offices of local officials they blamed for allowing its import.

Four others died in a panicked exodus of more than 10,000 Sihanoukville residents fearing contamination. Cambodia's Health Ministry has said the reported deaths of at least two residents appeared linked to unprotected movement of the waste.

Formosa has said the cement-like material was tainted with mercury but had been certified by the Environmental Protection Administration as safe for landfill disposal.

Mineshi Sakamoto, a mercury poisoning expert from the Japanese environmental agency's Minamata Institute and adviser to the World Health Organization, said the waste could be a long-term health hazard and should be removed.

Separate tests by Singaporean laboratory Matcor Technology and Services showed mercury concentrations of 675 parts per million -- far above safe levels.

SEATTLE, USA. 1 January 1999 (Basel Action Network) The Basel Action Network (BAN), an international toxic waste watchdog alliance, called on Taiwan and Cambodia and all other countries that have not yet done so, to ratify the Basel Convention and its recently adopted amendment banning the most abusive forms of toxic waste trafficking.

The call for this "new year's resolution" comes in the wake of this month's horrific scandal involving the export of hazardous wastes from chemical giant Formosa Plastics in Taiwan to the port town of Sihanoukville in Cambodia. The dumping incident is reported to have left seven dead due to both the immediate effects of the hazardous wastes as well as the public reaction that followed -- a riot and mass exodus of an estimated 10,000 persons.

Neither Taiwan nor Cambodia are parties to the "Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal" and as such were left extremely vulnerable to waste traffickers, according to BAN.

The Basel Convention adopted in 1989, forbids trade in hazardous wastes without high level consent by exporting and receiving countries, and assurances that the waste in question would be managed in a "environmentally sound manner." Additionally, in 1992, the Basel member countries passed a decision requesting all developing countries to prohibit the import of hazardous wastes from industrialized countries. Then in 1994 and again in 1995 (as an amendment), the Basel Convention adopted consensus decisions which strictly prohibited exports of hazardous wastes from developed countries of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD -- 29 member group of most industrialized countries) to non-OECD countries. The Basel Convention membership now exceeds 100 countries. While the Basel Ban Amendment has so far been ratified by the European Union, Norway and Ecuador (a total of 17 countries).

"The fact that this disaster has happened to countries that have not yet joined the international treaty strictly curbing hazardous waste trade, is a wake-up call to the world," said Jim Puckett, Coordinator of the global Basel Action Network Secretariat. "While rapidly addressing the immediate crisis in Cambodia, all governments that have not already done so, must take immediate steps to simultaneously ratify the Basel Ban Amendment and the Basel Convention."

According to BAN, IF either Cambodia or Taiwan had already been Party to the Basel Convention, there would be no question that the Taiwan-to-Cambodia waste dumping would have been illegal and deemed a criminal offence. Thus it is likely that such a plan to export toxic wastes would likely have never commenced. Further the repatriation of the hazardous waste that was shipped illegally would have been a legal requirement.

According to BAN, Asia is the area of the world currently experiencing the worst abuses of toxic waste trade. In the coming weeks BAN will be working with local affiliate organizations and with government officials to ensure that Cambodia and Taiwan ratify the Basel Convention and Ban Amendment at the earliest opportunity.

"Seven persons have already died due to toxic waste dumping in Cambodia," said Puckett. "As tragic and despicable as this dumping has been, the greater tragedy would be if governments sat on their hands and failed to take the obvious step of joining the vast majority of the global community that has already condemned and banned waste trafficking."

For more information contact:

Jim Puckett, Coordinator

Basel Action Network (BAN) Secretariat

c/o Asia-Pacific Environmental Exchange

1827 39th Ave. E.

Seattle, Washington 98112

Phone/Fax: +1 (206) 720.6426

E-mail: jpuckett@ban.org

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia, Jan 1 (Reuters) - The Cambodian government said on Friday a Taiwanese firm will take back 3,000 tonnes of mercury-laced industrial waste dumped in southern Cambodia but compensation still had to be agreed.

Minister of State for Information Khieu Kanharith told Reuters the government no longer planned to sue Taiwanese petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics over the waste but would be discussing a compensation payment with the firm.

''They agreed to take it back to Taiwan, but we still need to talk about compensation,'' he said.

He said the government had concluded that filing a lawsuit against the firm would be expensive and time consuming. ''It's better to discuss an arrangement,'' he said.

Environment Minister Mok Mareth said senior officials of Formosa Plastics visited the dump site outside the southern town of Sihanoukville on Friday to take samples for testing in Taiwan.

On Wednesday, the firm said it had written to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to apologise for the trouble caused by the waste.

News of the waste sparked riots in Sihanoukville last month in which one person was killed as protesters sacked offices of local officials they blamed for allowing it in the country.

Four others died in a panicked exodus of more than 10,000 Sihanoukville residents fearing contamination. Cambodia's Health Ministry has said the reported deaths of at least two residents appeared linked to unprotected movement of the waste.

Georg Petersen, the World Health Organisation's representative for Cambodia, said tests on the waste had shown ''extremely high'' concentrations of inorganic mercury.

Being inorganic mercury meant it did not present an immediate health threat but it could be a longer-term hazard, he said.

''It has to go somewhere else,'' he said.

Samples tested at the Japanese environmental agency's Minamata Institute showed mercury concentrations varying from 500 parts per million to as high as 3,900 parts per million, Petersen said.

One sample showed a small amount of highly toxic metal mercury, he said.

However, Petersen said blood and urine tests on people who had complained of sickness after coming into contact with the waste had all proven normal.

''None seems to have symptoms of poisoning,'' he said.

Separate tests by Singaporean laboratory Matcor Technology and Services showed mercury concentrations of 675 parts per million -- far above safe levels.

Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration said samples brought back by environmentalists had tested slightly above safe standards for mercury contamination and urged Formosa to retrieve the shipment.

Taiwanese news reports said Formosa was considering sending the waste to the United States or Germany.

Formosa had the waste shipped to Cambodia in late November.

It has said the cement-like material was tainted with mercury but had been certified by the Environmental Protection Administration as safe for landfill disposal.

By Lawrence Chung

TAIPEI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Taiwan industrial giant Formosa Plastics Corp said on Sunday that it planned to ship some 3,000 tonnes of mercury-laced industrial waste dumped in southern Cambodia to the United States or Europe for disposal.

''We plan to ship the waste out of Cambodia to either the United States or Europe where disposal technology is sophisticated,'' Lee Chih-tsun, president of Formosa Plastics, said in a news conference in Taipei.

Lee said his company was approaching the United States and European countries about taking the waste, but no location had been finalised because of the New Year's holiday.

Lee asked Cambodia authorities to give the company more time to ship out the waste.

Formosa Plastics' disposal of the waste, which Cambodia authorities have said was mercury-tainted, caused an uproar in the country and the government demanded the firm ship the waste back to Taiwan.

Formosa had the waste shipped to Cambodia in late November and it was dumped in the port of Sihanoukville.

News of the waste sparked riots in Sihanoukville in which one person was killed as protesters sacked offices of local officials they blamed for allowing its import. Four others died in a panicked exodus of more than 10,000 residents fearing contamination.

Formosa Plastics first insisted that the waste was not toxic, but later said some might slightly exceed the safety standard, and that it needed to collect some samples for verification.

The company on Thursday sent a team, led by lawmaker Tseng Cheng-nung who had close relations with Cambodia, to Phnom Penh to try to collect some waste samples.

But Cambodia officials refused to let the group collect samples, saying that team members had failed to wear protective clothing.

Tseng later held two rounds of talks with the Cambodia authorities, which finally agreed to allow the company to ship the waste to a third country.

Tseng also said on Sunday that Cambodia had agreed not to claim compensation nor demand a further apology from the company.

Formosa Plastics chairman Wang Yung-ching had already sent a letter of apology to Cambodia.

''They wanted to resolve the dispute in a civilised and agreeable manner,'' Tseng said, adding that the Cambodia government asked that the waste be shipped out within a month.

Lee said it would take more than a month to ship the waste out of Cambodia due to paperwork and other preparatory procedures.

''It would take at least 75 days for the necessary arrangement to ship the waste to the United States or 135 days to ship the toxic waste to Europe,'' Lee said.

Tseng said he and Lee would head to Cambodia within five days to negotiate handling details and seek more time to ship out the waste.

Taipei has no diplomatic ties with Phnom Penh.

Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration said samples brought back by environmentalists had tested slightly above safe standards for mercury contamination and urged Formosa to retrieve the shipment.

By Seth Mydans

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia -- When 3,000 tons of industrial material from Taiwan was dumped in a field here a month ago, the poor villagers living nearby were thrilled at the windfall.

They emptied out chunks of the cement-like material from the white plastic sacks to use for tents and canopies and bedding. They ripped open the bags with their teeth to get string to use as clotheslines and as fasteners for oxcarts. They rinsed out the bags and used them to store rice.

"We thought we were in luck!" said Em Sim, 35, laughing at her folly. "Yes, we thought this was our lucky day. For me the bags were just what I needed to make a sleeping mat."

The mat smelled a little like cement when she slept on it, she said. Then she started to have headaches. She began to feel thirsty and tired. She had difficulty breathing. She lost her appetite, suffered from diarrhea and began to lose weight.

Her 5-year-old son, Chhien, who played in the dusty waste material while his mother gathered the sacks, has developed a rash and a fever and also has been losing weight, Mrs. Sim said.

One after another, members of 40 families who evacuated the village of Bet Trang told similar stories of mysterious ailments that began after dozens of trucks arrived in the night and unloaded the material nearby.

In the weeks since then, the dump has aroused international concern and caused a local panic. A dock worker who cleaned out the hold of a ship transporting the material died and five others were hospitalized.

Learning of this, residents of Sihanoukville fled the city, then most of them returned. A riot broke out in the city center, damaging several buildings and leading to a dozen arrests, including two human rights workers who were advising the demonstrators on how to conduct a legal protest.

A variety of tests determined that the waste material -- compressed ash from an industrial waste incinerator -- was contaminated with high levels of mercury as well as a possibly hazardous mix of other metals. But debate continued over the degree of danger it posed.

The company that had sent the waste, Formosa Plastics Corp., said it had not been able to dump it in Taiwan because of a threat of public protests. The Cambodian government threatened to sue and Taiwan agreed to take the waste back. Workers have begun sealing it in barrels.

The villagers said they first learned that they had been handling toxic material when local journalists arrived two weeks after it was dumped to take pictures of them.

Just before Christmas, they said, the military sealed off the village and ordered them to leave. Apart from that, the villagers said, the government has ignored them. They have not been tested for poisoning, nor treated for their ailments. They have not been given alternative shelter. They are living as squatters and surviving on donations from the World Food Program.

The people of Bet Trang spoke without anger.

"You don't usually see people getting angry about things around here because they have taken so much in their lives from people who have more influence than they do," said Michele R. Brandt, an American lawyer who works with Legal Aid of Cambodia, a local human rights group.

It remained unclear, one month after the dumping, just how toxic the material is and what had caused the villagers' symptoms. Ms. Brandt, whose organization is representing the affected villagers, said government officials, inexperienced in handling such emergencies, did not advise the villagers to move away when the possibility of poisoning was first raised.

Georg Petersen, the Cambodian representative for the World Health Organization, told Reuters that although tests had shown "extremely high" concentrations of inorganic mercury, the material posed little immediate threat to health.

He said that blood and urine tests on port workers and soldiers who have handled the material were normal and that "none seems to have symptoms of poisoning." But the evacuees interviewed here said they had not been tested, and Ms. Brandt said their exposure seemed to have been more direct and prolonged than that of the port workers and soldiers.

Hun Vuthy, 15, was among a group of youngsters who had romped in the dumpsite. "We picked it up and played in it," he said. "It was interesting stuff and I was curious." He is now suffering from fever, diarrhea and weight loss.

Lan Chan Heng, 30, ripped some of the bags apart with his teeth to get the string that was used to fasten them. He said he now suffers from a white discharge from his eyes and from pain in his eyes and bones and joints that keeps him awake at night.

Khuan Kong, 36, who has four small children, gave birth to a fifth child 15 days ago, before the villagers were evacuated. She also had collected bags from the dump and is worried about the effects on her children.

The worst problem, Mrs. Sim said, is that the people of Bet Trang now have no homes and no work. She said she was eager to return home.

"We are waiting for the government to tell us we can go back," she said. "As soon as they tell us it's safe, we'll go."

By Annie Huang

Associated Press Writer

Taiwan (AP) -- A scandal blamed for five deaths in Cambodia has raised a troubling question in Taiwan: Where are the island's industrialists dumping their toxic waste?

Nobody has many answers. But the recent incident in which Taiwan's chemical giant, Formosa Plastics Corp., shipped 3,000 tons of mercury-laden waste to Cambodia led to charges that Taiwan uses poor nations as a convenient dumping ground for unsafe chemical byproducts.

Formosa Plastics admitted in embarrassment that it generated the waste a decade earlier and sent it abroad because residents living near the plants objected to its disposal near their neighborhoods. The waste was mixed with cement, then slipped past customs officers labeled as ''cement blocks'' with no mention of the mercury content.

The waste ended up a few days later in Cambodia, where the handling agent dumped it on the open ground near the country's only major seaport, Sihanoukville, to save the expense of creating a landfill.

Then a dock worker mysteriously died a day after cleaning the hold of the ship that brought the waste. Residents, some of whom had taken the wrapping bags home, panicked on rumors they may have been exposed to nuclear waste. Four were killed in car wrecks as people fled the area.

Cambodia was outraged. Environment Minister Mok Mareth accused Taiwan of using poor countries as dumps. Formosa Plastics agreed to ship the waste out of the country despite disputes over just how toxic it was. Formosa Plastics said it labeled the waste as cement because it did not believe it was hazardous.

Critics wondered whether the scandal was isolated or part of a pattern that had gone undetected for years.

''This is the first Taiwanese firm caught secretly dumping its waste abroad. But who knows? A can of worms may have just been opened,'' said Wu Tung-chieh, chairman of the environmental group Green Formosa Front.

While there is no proof of any other similar exports of dangerous waste, a government report shows about 1 million tons of toxic waste generated by Taiwanese companies in 1997 went unaccounted for. Much of the waste is apparently dumped in Taiwan, though in many cases with lax standards, if any, for protecting the environment.

Ting San-lung, head of the Environmental Protection Bureau in southern Kaohsiung city, says he can't tell how much of the waste has been exported, but admits loopholes in Taiwanese laws.

''While pursuing rapid economic development, we have never come up with effective measures to handle industrial waste,'' Ting said in an interview. ''Our biggest problem is we can't find any places to store the industrial waste.''

Plans to build incinerators or landfills have met with strong objections by residents partly because of a lack of confidence in the standards of public projects, which have been marred by corruption and shoddy work, Ting said.

Meantime, many of Taiwan's riverbeds and rural lands have been filled with industrial waste after people illegally dig out tons of gravel. The landscape in one valley in the southern county of Pingtung has been so badly disfigured by the pirate mining companies that environmentalists sarcastically call it Taiwan's ''Grand Canyon.''

Objections from citizens have left Taiwan's state-run power company with no place to dispose of low-level waste from its three nuclear power plants.

The company first had sought unsuccessfully to dump it in Russia, and then a deal to store the waste in North Korea was scrapped following protests from South Korea.

Most recently, residents in the tiny Taiwanese island of Wuchiu have rejected the nuclear waste, despite an offer of $93 million as compensation.

The timing of the scandal could hardly be worse for Taiwan. The island can ill afford to develop a reputation as a toxic waste exporter while it strives to raise its international profile against the diplomatic isolation imposed by Beijing, which considers Taiwan to be a renegade province that should be reunited with the mainland by military force if necessary.

''We must have the concept of being a part of the global village and respect its environmental laws,'' Foreign Minister Jason Hu recently told reporters. ''We cannot suffer more blows in our efforts to win international support.''

The very serious toxic waste incident in Sihanoukville* is a [sad] reminder of the necessity to grant much more importance to environmental health issues. The incident was not unpredictable. Already two years ago, MEDiCAM attempted to draw attention of both the Royal Cambodian Government and major donors to Cambodia on the serious environmental risks the country was/is running. In its "1997 NGO Position Paper on the health Reform" MEDiCAM was then writing "[...] uncontrolled industrialisation with little attention given to environmental health issues would result in serious future public health problems". Naturally, "uncontrolled" does not only meant absence of State laws and regulations (a few already exist, though most are still awaiting sub-decrees to be signed), but first and foremost an actual law enforcement by officials in charge.

But the disaster has already occurred and it would bring no gain to boast ourselves by saying "we had warned you!" if it was to take the opportunity to warn on OTHER environmental health incidents and/or disasters STILL TO COME. This is why we wish also to remind here of environmental health hazards that were also mentioned in the Position Paper and are still in dire need to be seriously addressed:

MEDiCAM wishes then to draw again attention on the uncontrolled, abusive and ill-informed use of pesticides in the country, including pesticides which have already been forbidden for long in western countries due to their high toxicity and the serious health hazards they represent to animals and humans*. One remembers the hysteria that the laced wine incident provoked in last September 98. Suddenly all food was suspect and stories of people dying of poisoned mangoes, drinking waters, and the likes were circulating like wild fires, soon causing the lynching of unfortunate scapegoats. One sees again such dangerous hysteria developing in Sihanoukville. There has never been any evidence of genuine food poisoning in the September incidents (beyond the now well-identified methanol-laced local wine intoxication) that caused that hysteria; Ironically, the genuine food poisoning caused by pesticides remains widely unnoticed and therefore draws very little attention. Poisoning by pesticides is often a slow process, with symptoms appearing late, rendering the cause more difficult to identify to Cambodian practitioners.

Speaking about dangerous waste one should also not forget all the health centres, hospitals, and private clinics' contaminated liquids which are often evacuated in the drainage without any prior treatment. With the high prevalence of communicable diseases in Cambodia (including AIDS, Hepatitis, Cholera), there is here an indubitable risk that should be seriously tackled. There is also no need to look only for toxic waste imported from abroad, as local factories' elimination of their own waste is not a model either. The population awareness on environmental health hazards is also very low and it is, for instance, not uncommon to find old batteries thrown away anywhere, including in the river. Not to mention of course the obvious disastrous consequences that wild forestry destruction have (ref. past examples in south of Thailand and more recent ones in China).

Contrarily to what some may pretend, the protection of the environment is not a luxury that only developed countries can indulge in. The absence of such environment protection inevitably leads to incidents, disasters and human tragedies with a heavy social (and particularly in the health sector) and economic cost which developing countries would rather spare themselves. Cambodia has already enough natural diseases to tackle with to add more man-made ones.

MEDiCAM is therefore taking again this opportunity to appeal all concerned health professionals willing to contribute, to bring forward ideas and technical inputs, so that a sound constructive position and RECOMMENDATION paper could be issued soon to the Royal Cambodian Government and Donors to Cambodia. In this field, both NGOs assistance AND advocacy are essential.

Please, note that we are simply raising Environmental Health Hazards here. Naturally, there remains unfortunately still many other urgent health-related issues in Cambodia that also need to be better addressed (AIDS, malaria, dengue, ARI, CDD, tobacco, alcohol abuses, domestic violence, traffic accidents, etc, to mention only a few. Ref. the Position Paper).

The recent forming of the new Government has raised hope that the social sector will now be given greater attention than in the past (and than the security apparatus, military and police) by the authorities. There is here a momentum that should be well optimised. And this is what MEDiCAM is attempting today.

Looking forward to reading you soon.

Kind regards

Stephan P. Rousseau

MEDiCAM Executive Director

*NB

1. The Environment Working Group of the NGO Forum on Cambodia has produced a "Preliminary Study of Impact of the Toxic Waste on the People". It is for the moment a draft. Please, contact NGO Forum for further information on the release of the final report.

2. A study on the use of pesticides in Cambodia called "Pesticides in Cambodia: A compilation for agriculturists local and expatriate staff working in agriculture in Cambodia" prepared by Judith Specht, and sponsored by Lutheran World Service is available at MEDiCAM. The report was presented by Ms. Judith Specht, at the

24 April 1998 MEDiCAM Membership Monthly Meeting (4M's).

3. Interested individuals can also consult at MEDiCAM the International Trade Association for Manufacturers of Agrochemicals "Guidelines for emergency measures in cases of pesticides poisoning".

By Puy Kea

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 19 (Kyodo) -- International environmental organizations called on the Cambodian government Tuesday to immediately ban the import of hazardous waste and ratify an international convention on controlling the movement and disposal of such waste.

The call by Greenpeace International, Basel Action Network (BAN) and other non-governmental organizations follows revelations that industrial waste imported from Taiwan and dumped outside the coastal resort of Sihanoukville in southern Cambodia late last year contains high levels of mercury that has harmed the health of villagers in the area.

''Although Cambodia and Taiwan are not parties of the Basel Convention, the message that such imports would not be tolerated would have been unmistakable and any illegal traffic would have been considered a criminal offense and a violation of international law,'' BAN representative Jim Puckett told a press conference in Phnom Penh.

The Basel Convention on the Control of the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, which entered into force in 1992, now includes all coastal countries in Asia except Cambodia, Taiwan and North Korea.

In March 1989, 118 nations signed the convention, 117 of which have ratified it to date.

The solid waste, weighing about 3,000 tons, was exported by petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics group and arrived in Cambodia on Nov. 30. It was dumped four days later on the outskirts of Sihanoukville, about 230 kilometers from Phnom Penh.

The owner of Muth Vuthy, the local company which imported the waste, has been arrested and around 30 government officials have been suspended from work, some of them on suspicion of taking bribes from the company to allow the waste into the country.

Formosa Plastics Group says it paid the importer 300,000 U.S. dollars, but denies allegations it spent 3 million dollars on bribing officials.

While the company has admitted the waste contains traces of mercury, it said the waste had been certified by Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration as safe for landfill disposal.

''For Formosa to ship highly toxic waste to a country with no capacity to dispose of potentially life threatening contaminants is criminal,'' Michele Brandt, an attorney consultant to Legal Aid of Cambodia, a Cambodian non-governmental organization, told the same press conference.

''Formosa must take responsibility and not only immediately repatriate the waste but compensate for all costs and harm resulting from this uncontrolled dumping episode,'' she added.

Forum on Cambodia, another NGO, reported at the press conference that at least two villagers have died from the effects of the waste and many other villagers have fallen ill.

By Robert Birsel

PHNOM PENH, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Environmental experts said on Tuesday further tests must be conducted on nearly 3,000 tonnes of toxic waste dumped in southern Cambodia as authorities found more of the mercury-laced material near a beach.

Tests so far have shown some of the waste, imported from Taiwan late last year and dumped near the southern port of Sihanoukville, has very high mercury levels of up to 10,971 parts per million, they said.

But no tests have been done for other toxic substances such as pesticides, dioxins, furans and polycyclic aromatic carbons and all organic forms of mercury, they said.

''We don't know what's in this waste,'' Jim Puckett of the Basel Action Network Secretariat told a news conference.

''We find it shocking that some authorities have already jumped to the conclusion that the wastes posed no threat while comprehensive chemical analysis and health studies have yet to be conducted,'' said Von Hernandez of Greenpeace International.

Mak Sithirath, a coordinator of Cambodian environmental groups, said he had found evidence that two people had died from exposure to the waste, shipped to Cambodia by Taiwan industrial giant Formosa Plastics Corp.

Mak Sithirath said one of those believed to have been killed was a worker at the port where the waste was unloaded and the other was a young villager who slept on sacks scavenged from the dump before it was realised the waste was dangerous.

The discovery of the mercury-tainted waste in December sparked riots in which one person was killed as protesters sacked offices of local officials they accused of allowing its import.

Four other people died in accidents during a panicked exodus of more than 10,000 residents fearing contamination.

Authorities in Sihanoukville said on Tuesday they had found some 300 kg (660 pounds) of the concrete-like, Taiwanese waste dumped near a beach in the seaside resort.

Deputy police chief Tak Vantha said villagers had taken the waste away to use as building material but had dumped it after hearing it was toxic.

''We've just found about 300 kg of the waste about 50 metres (yards) from the beach on the outskirts of town,'' Tak Vantha told Reuters. ''Some people were using it with cement to make flooring, but when they heard it was dangerous they took it away.''

Environmental experts blasted the Taiwan firm that shipped the waste to Cambodia and said it would have to take it back as it would be very hard to find another country to accept it.

Cambodia must enact legislation and sign the Basel Convention aimed at preventing rich countries dumping waste in poor ones, they said.

''Formosa Plastics has been acting like a real villain,'' said Hernandez. ''So far they're really proving to be despicable.''

The firm first insisted the waste was not toxic but later said some of it might slightly exceed safety standards. It has promised to remove it from Cambodia.

''Cambodia has now had a sad, convincing demonstration of the fact that the international trade in hazardous waste is not commerce, it's criminality,'' said Puckett.

''There is now no honourable excuse for any politician not to immediately pass legislation banning all forms of hazardous waste imports,'' he said.

About 30 officials including customs officers have been suspended from their jobs over the scandal, but the government rejected a news report last week that some top government members had been paid millions of dollars to approve the import of the material.

By Chris Fontaine

Associated Press Writer

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- The environmental group Greenpeace accused a Taiwanese company Tuesday of taking advantage of poverty in Cambodia by dumping 3,000 tons of toxic, mercury-laced waste in the country.

Officials from Greenpeace and the Basel Action Network -- a group focused on toxic transshipments -- denounced Formosa Plastics Corp. for preying on ''a convenient open target'' by sending the waste to Cambodia.

The shipment, which sparked a frenzied exodus from a Cambodian city, ''is an example of the worst case of waste dumping we have seen for a long time,'' said Von Hernandez, a toxins specialist for Greenpeace.

The waste, believed to be compressed industrial ash, passed without notice through Sihanoukville seaport on Nov. 30 and was found by environmental officials a few weeks later in an exposed heap six miles outside the coastal town.

Tests conducted on the waste have shown it contains extremely high levels of toxic mercury, but the environmentalists complained that tests for other life-threatening materials, such as dioxin, have not been done.

Five deaths have been blamed on the waste, including a dock worker who cleaned the hold of the ship that brought it from Taiwan, and four people killed in road accidents during a panic-stricken exodus from Sihanoukville.

A non-governmental organization, NGO Forum, on Tuesday linked a sixth death to the shipment. A 23-year-old villager living near the dump died two days after rummaging through the waste and using the bags it was shipped in to build a makeshift bed.

The group cautioned it had not established a direct link between the waste and the death, but reported that both the dock worker and the villager suffered similar symptoms, including acute vomiting, exhaustion and thirst.

The waste has been packed by the army into oil drums and freight containers while the government waits for Formosa Plastics to fulfill its promise to take it back.

Hernandez noted, however, that Greenpeace was able to take samples from chunks of waste remaining at the dump site. He also said the area has not been sealed off by authorities, and that children were seen walking through it.

PHNOM PENH -- A group of environmentalists from Cambodia and abroad said Tuesday that the industrial waste imported from Taiwan and dumped in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, last year contained a high content of mercury.

The international environmental organizations Greenpeace and the Basel Action Network (BAN) and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) told a press conference here that a study performed in Hong Kong has shown a sample of the waste to have a mercury level as high as 10,971 parts per million (over 1 percent).

Tests for possible damage to the immune system, nervous system and kidneys of those exposed to the waste have yet to be undertaken. According to a preliminary study released by the NGO Forum on Cambodia, the toxic waste has already caused direct and indirect impacts on people's health and life.

The study said the direct impact is that two people have died so far and five dock workers, who handled the waste, were reported to be seriously ill. And in the three affected villages, there are also people who got sick and some families were forced to leave their homes for Phnom Penh and other places. Indirect impact is that there are few buyers and sellers in Sihanoukville and as a result, income for the people there has declined by 30 to 40 percent a day because people are too scared to buy seafood, suspecting that it has been polluted.

Meanwhile, the number of tourists has also gone down rapidly. About 3,000 tons of so-called industrial waste was imported from a Taiwan plastics company on November 30, 1998, and dumped four days later in an open area in the outskirts of Sihanoukville, 230 kilometers west of Phnom Penh. The Cambodian government has ordered that the waste be sent back to Taiwan and Taiwan's environmental agency also requested the plastics company to take responsibility for returning the waste to Taiwan.

According to the local media, the government will remove all officials involved in the import of the waste. So far, more than 30 customs officials are suspended, including the director of the national customs.

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics Corp said on Friday it would clear all 3,000 tonnes of mercury-laced industrial waste it dumped in southern Cambodia in 60 days.

''We agreed to step up efforts to repackage, clear and ship all such waste out of Cambodia in 60 days after our two sides sign a formal agreement,'' Formosa said in a statement.

Formosa said the waste, dumped in Cambodia in late November, would be shipped to a third country or back to ''the original producing place'' -- presumably Taiwan.

Formosa did not say if it had offered to compensate Phnom Penh over the waste, which was deemed toxic by Cambodian authorities and caused an uproar in the country.

Facing intense pressure, Formosa Plastics pledged in January to ship the waste to the United States or Europe where disposal technology was most sophisticated. More recently, it said it was discussing disposal with a French firm.

Formosa said it fixed the 60-day timetable for removal with Cambodian officials in Taipei on Friday, but gave no details.

A Cambodian team led by Om Yentieng, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen, arrived late on Thursday.

News of the mercury-tainted waste sparked riots in Sihanoukville in which one person reportedly died as protesters sacked offices of Cambodian officials they blamed for allowing its import. Four people died in a panicked exodus of more than 10,000 residents fearing contamination.

Formosa initially said the concrete-like rubble was safe for landfill disposal, but later acknowledged that some of it might slightly exceed safety standards.

Dear Editor,

With reference to remarks on WHO's role in the toxic waste problem in Sihanoukville, I would like to make the following statement:

WHO is the international agency setting the guidelines for environmentally acceptable levels of potentially toxic chemicals. As such, WHO has a vast network of experts and institutions advising it on environmental issues especially on health risks of toxins. When the Government of Cambodia requested technical support on 20 December 1998, WHO mobilized its network seeking advice from several institutions and experts. The initial information about this waste indicated that mercury was the main problem so we requested the World's leading institute on mercury, the National Institute for Minamata Disease in Japan for help.

Five days later, an expert of the Minamata Institute and a team from the Ministry of Health and WHO were on the dump site taking samples for subsequent analysis and qualitatively assessing possible dangers associated with the waste. Based on this initial assessment, WHO made preliminary recommendations to the Government.

Our main advice was that the waste must be treated as toxic and that it should be removed as soon as possible. We also recommended protective measures to avoid exposure of more people; such as securing the area, collecting waste removed from the site, protecting the soldiers doing the clean-up and medical follow up of people with symptoms of poisoning.

In the light of a beginning panic reaction of the general population, we underlined that the waste did not pose any immediate danger to the general population of Sihanoukville, the city's water supply or its fisheries, and that evacuations were not required.

On 30 December we received the first results from the Minamata Institute. The results confirmed that this waste is indeed toxic with very high levels of inorganic mercury. The facts that blood, urine and hair tests of a small sample of exposed persons showed normal levels of mercury did not lead us to dismiss the idea that anyone had fallen ill by exposure to the waste. On the contrary, it suggested the possibility that other contents of the waste could have contributed to their symptoms.

Samples of the waste are therefore presently being tested for other plausible toxins. WHO has also provided an expert to advise on the final clean-up and monitoring of the environment around the site. The Ministry of Health and MSF are in the meantime continuing the medical follow up of the individuals who had direct contact with the waste.

It is regrettable that our recommendations have been misunderstood and/or misreported. However, an incident like this creates fear and uncertainty and represents a tremendous challenge to local, national and international authorities as well as to the media. Our advice to the Government was appropriate and based on the best scientific information available. Further analysis of the problem has supported our initial assessment.

The clean up of the waste and the upper soil layer seems effective and was completed in early January 1999. The waste has now been contained in thousands of steel drums and containers and is waiting to be shipped out of Cambodia. Final mop-up operations are ongoing and plans for further monitoring of the environment around the dump site are being developed. WHO will continue its keen observation of the problem and advise the Government on appropriate strategies to protect both the environment and the health of the people of Sihanoukville.

Georg Petersen

WHO Representative, Phnom Penh

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- Three government officials have been indicted in a toxic waste scandal that prompted riots and hysteria in a Cambodian resort town two months ago, a newspaper reported today.

The three officials were arrested Feb. 5 and released on bail after being questioned about the dumping of nearly 3,000 tons of mercury-laced waste in an exposed heap a few miles outside of Sihanoukville, the Cambodia Daily said.

Citing investigating magistrate Huon Mony, the newspaper said Customs Director In Saroeun, Lonh Vannak of the pricing department, and Peng Chheng, an inspections official, were charged with damaging life, property and the environment.

They are the first government officials to be indicted in the dumping, which has been blamed for the deaths of at least six people. Six customs and police officials will be questioned this week and may also face charges, according to the newspaper.

PHNOM PENH, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Taiwan's Formosa Plastics Corp agreed on Thursday to remove from Cambodia nearly 3,000 tonnes of mercury-laced waste that it dumped near the southern port of Sihanoukville late last year.

The president of Formosa Plastics, Lee Chih-tsun, signed an agreement with the government, vowing to remove the waste in 60 days, a Cambodian official said.

''Formosa Plastics has agreed to remove the waste from Cambodia within 60 days from today,'' Om Yentieng, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen, told a news conference.

Under the agreement Formosa agreed to pay a fine of $1,000 a day for the first 15 days beyond the 60-day deadline, rising to a maximum of $5,000 a day if the waste is not removed 60 days beyond the deadline, Om Yentieng said.

Formosa Plastics will not pay any compensation to Cambodia, he said. The agreement was aimed at getting the waste out of Cambodia as quickly as possible and the government might seek compensation in the future, Om Yentieng said.

Formosa Plastics also agreed to pay for medical treatment for anyone who has been determined by doctors appointed by the company and the government to have been harmed by the waste, Om Yentieng said.

News of the poisonous waste sparked riots in Sihanoukville in December in which one person was killed as protesters sacked offices of Cambodian officials they blamed for allowing its import.

Four people died in a panicked exodus of more than 10,000 residents fearing contamination.

Formosa Plastics initially said the concrete-like rubble was safe for landfill disposal, but later acknowledged that some of it might slightly exceed safety standards.

Tests showed that much of the waste contained very high levels of mercury.

Three officials in the Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville have so far been charged in connection with the dumping.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, March 1, 1999 (ENS) - International and local environment, legal and human rights advocates in Cambodia say a deal signed Friday between Formosa Plastics of Taiwan and the Cambodian government to resolve problems that resulted from the illegal export to Cambodia of toxic mercury contaminated wastes falls "far short of providing environmental justice to the Cambodian people and the environment."

Three-thousand tonnes of Taiwanese toxic wastes produced by transnational petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics was dumped in the Cambodian port town of Sihanoukville late last year. Sihanoukville, on the coast near the Vietnamese border, is Cambodia's premium beach resort and one of the country's two main ports.

The waste, thought to be compressed industrial ash, passed without notice through Sihanoukville on November 30, 1998. It was found by officials a few weeks later in an open dump six miles outside the town.

Tests conducted on the waste found extremely high levels of toxic mercury. The environmentalists said that tests for other hazadous chemicals, such as dioxin, have not been done.

The dumping incident is reported to have left seven dead due to both the immediate effects of the hazardous wastes as well as the public reaction that followed - a riot and mass exodus of an estimated 10,000 people.

Three Cambodian government officials have been charged in connection with the dumping. Two customs officials and a port inspector were accused of causing damage to life, property and the environment.

Port of Sihanoukville

Neither Taiwan nor Cambodia are parties to the "Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal" and as such were left extremely vulnerable to waste traffickers, according to the Basel Action Network (BAN), an international toxic waste watchdog alliance.

While Friday's agreement provides for the clean-up and removal of the hazardous waste from Cambodian soil within 60 days, under the supervision of an expert consultant, environmentalists object that it includes language in which Formosa Plastics places blame for their illegal actions on the shipping company and local importer. The language implies that Formosa had no responsibility to inquire where the waste was to be taken or how it was to be disposed.

Taiwanese environmental law required Formosa to have this information before approval could be given to export the hazardous waste, legal advocates say.

The deal does not call for Formosa Plastics to compensate either victims nor the Cambodian government for damages and injuries that have resulted, or will result from the toxic dumping. During the negotiations and now formalized in the agreement, Formosa Plastics insisted that they provide medical care to the victims.

"This only adds insult to injury" said Michele Brandt, legal consultant to Legal Aid of Cambodia (LAC). "For the victims to make a choice between trusting their medical care to the very company that poisoned them or to go without medical assistance is a very cruel choice indeed."

Two people died after being in close contact with the waste, following symptoms consistent with mercury poisoning. At least four others died and property was destroyed during a riot and panicked exodus after the word spread about the initial deaths. Many other residents who took bags containing the waste experienced poisoning symptoms.

There is likely to be significant ground water contamination in the vicinity of the dump. Already the World Health Organization reported that elevated levels of mercury were found in one well near the site.

"While the Cambodian government claims that they will later seek compensation," said Jim Puckett of BAN, "we fear that once the wastes are put back on a ship, and sail away, Formosa Plastics will conveniently disappear as well, and might refuse to return to the bargaining table to compensate Cambodians for their criminal act."

The activists believe that Formosa Plastics must pay for a thorough independent assessment of the damages and injuries that occurred due to their illegal export. Then, following the outcome of that report, Formosa must be held liable for any damages and be prepared to pay compensation to the victims.

"It is our view that unless Formosa Plastics is held liable for the damage and injury caused by this despicable act, they will be getting away with murder," said Von Hernandez of Greenpeace International. "Formosa Plastics must be held to the negotiating table until they show a willingness to protect the people of Cambodia - not just their public image."

Over 100 countries have already banned the import of hazardous wastes. And in Asia, all coastal countries except Taiwan, North Korea and Cambodia have joined the Basel Convention.

The Basel Action Network called on Taiwan and Cambodia and all other countries that have not yet done so, to ratify the Basel Convention and its recently adopted amendment banning the most abusive forms of toxic waste trafficking.

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia, March 12 (Reuters) - Nearly 3,000 tonnes of hazardous waste dumped in southern Cambodia by a Taiwanese firm late last year will be removed from the country by the end of April, an adviser to the company said on Friday.

More than 150 Cambodian soldiers, some clad in protective white overalls and most wearing face masks, began packing the mercury-laced waste into steel drums earlier this week.

''The agreement between Formosa Plastics and the government of Cambodia is to have this material off site within 60 days,'' Bill Ross, an environmental adviser to Taiwan's Formosa Plastics Corp, told Reuters.

''This material will be leaving here by the end of April to a safe disposal location in another country,'' Ross said.

Formosa Plastics is paying for the clean up. Soldiers working at the site said they were being paid $20 dollars a day.

He declined to say where the waste was bound but a local official in Sihanoukville said it was being sent to the United States.

Some of the steel drums into which the waste was being packed bore labels identifying the importer as Safety-Kleen (Westmorland) Inc, in California.

Ross said about three tonnes of top soil was also being removed from the dump site, in case it had been contaminated.

The discovery of the waste in December, dumped at an open site some 10 km (six miles) from Sihanoukville port, sparked riots in which at least one person was killed. Several others died in accidents during a panicked exodus of some 10,000 people from the town.

Formosa Plastics initially said the concrete-like rubble was safe for landfill disposal, but later acknowledged that some of it might slightly exceed safety standards.

Tests showed that much of the waste contained very high levels of mercury.

Environmental groups and human rights workers said at least two people died after exposure to the waste, although the causes of death were never confirmed.

Three Sihanoukville government officials have so far been charged in connection with the dumping.

Two human rights workers were arrested while monitoring the December protests and are still facing charges of robbery and damage to property. They have denied the charges and international human rights groups have called for the charges to be dropped.

By P.H. Ferguson

Associated Press Writer

Los Angeles (AP) -- Mercury-laced waste that is blamed for at least two deaths in Cambodia will be transferred and stored at a Southern California dump site, officials confirmed.

The Environmental Protection Agency has approved the transfer and storage of 6,500 tons of the waste to an Imperial County dump operated by Safety-Kleen Inc, Dave Schmidt of the Environmental Protection Agency said on Monday.

The waste, which originated in Taiwan, triggered a hysteria that included the partial evacuation of a town.

No date has been set for the shipment, Safety-Kleen spokesman Tom Mullikan said. He estimated the cost of storing the waste at $320,000.

"This would be a very routine shipment to this facility if it weren't for the circumstances,"

Mullikan said.

But activists planned to protest the shipment, claiming the toxic waste storage sites are unfairly located in low-income minority communities.

"They are in for a battle they never imagined," said Bradley Angel, Greenaction's executive director for health and environmental justice.

The sludge is a by-product of PVC piping built by Taiwan manufacturer Formosa Plastics Corp. It contains about 0.012 parts per million of mercury, Mullikan said, an amount well within EPA guidelines of 0.025 ppm for storage of mercury-tainted waste

The Taiwanese company had worked with the U.S. waste disposal company in the past.

Last December, the waste was disposed in a crude, exposed dump only a few miles from the center of the resort town of Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The waste arrived in the port in late November.

Town residents panicked after a connection was made between a man who died after cleaning the hold of the ship that carried the waste from Taiwan and the garbage dump on the outskirts of town.

Thousands evacuated Sihanoukville. One protest turned into a small riot, and an angry mob ransacked a deputy governor's house.

The death of a man who rummaged through the dump and used the sludge's shipping sacks as bedding was also blamed on the toxins.

But such waste is tightly controlled in California, officials said, and similar mishaps were extremely unlikely.

"It should pose no more threat than anything that is currently at that landfill," said Ron Baker of the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.

Three Cambodian customs officials have been charged with bribery for allowing the shipment into the country.

Formosa Plastic Corp. agreed to pay for Cambodian soldiers to clean up the site, and the Cambodia government is negotiating for compensation.

It is illegal in Cambodia to accept waste from other countries. The United States has no such laws, and frequently accepts and processes hazardous materials from abroad.

Westmoreland, CALIFORNIA. 24 March 1999 -- California community activists have joined hands with local and international environmental justice organizations in denouncing plans to re-dump near the California community of Westmoreland, mercury-contaminated waste that was first illegally dumped in Cambodia by the Taiwanese company, Formosa Plastics late last year.

The Formosa Plastics Cambodia dumping incident created an international furor which forced Formosa Plastics to sign an agreement with the Cambodian government on February 25th to remove the toxic mercury waste within 60 days. Now however, it appears that rather than taking the waste back to Taiwan, Formosa Plastics has contracted with US Waste company Safety-Kleen to move the waste to its hazardous waste landfill in one of the country's poorest, predominantly Latino counties in California's Imperial Valley and dump it there. The dump is five miles from the Salton Sea and about 35 miles from the Mexican border.

In a conference call yesterday, the environmental and community activists learned that the United States Environmental Protection Agency gave Safety-Kleen the consent to import the waste without knowing whether or not the Safety-Kleen site was legally permitted to dispose of the waste there.(1) They also admitted that they failed to consider Executive Order

12898 on Environmental Justice which requires all federal agencies to ensure that they do not take actions which would have a discriminatory or disproportionate impact on low-income communities, or communities of color.

Residents of Westmoreland have begun to speak out in opposition to the planned shipment of toxic waste to their community.

"They want to dump everything over here," said Leonard Mendez, resident of Westmoreland. "They shouldn't force this down our throats."

"The waste industry seems intent on making California the pay toilet for the Pacific Rim." said Jane Williams, director of California Communities Against Toxics, "California dumps have excess capacity because of diligent efforts to reduce the amounts of hazardous waste produced in California; we will not stand silent while the importation of hazardous waste becomes the next new growth industry in California."

In November of last year, Formosa Plastics, unable to continue dumping in Taiwanese communities due to public outrage in the highly polluted island nation of Taiwan, illegally allowed a waste broker to ship the toxic waste to Cambodia where it was dumped in a field just outside the port town of Sihanoukville. It has been widely reported that bribes of up to 3 million dollars were paid to government officials in Cambodia to allow the illegal waste importation. Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Formosa Plastics is a transnational giant, being the world's largest producer of PVC plastic.

Following the dumping, two persons that handled the waste died and a riot and panicked exodus from the town caused 5 more deaths. The World Health Organization originally said that the waste was not a problem, but subsequently admitted that very high levels of mercury had been detected in the waste and elevated levels were found in nearby wells.

"Formosa Plastic appears to practice environmental injustice as policy on a global scale,"said Jim Puckett of the Basel Action Network (BAN), an international toxic waste watchdog group. "First they dump their poisons on their own communities in Taiwan. When the public protests that, they devise a scheme to dump on the poorest country in the hemisphere, and now they are hoping to saddle one of California's low-income Latino communities with their toxic legacy. They must be forced to take responsibility."

The environmental justice activists are demanding 1) that the toxic waste be first removed from Cambodia within the allotted 60 days; 2) that the toxic waste must be returned to the factory site of Formosa Plastic that produced the waste in the first place; 3) that Taiwan not be allowed to dump their waste in Taiwanese communities again and instead the hazardous

waste should be placed in safe, contained, above-ground, government and citizen monitored storage on Formosa Plastic's site and at their expense; and 4) that Formosa Plastics be held liable for all injury, damages and costs incurred due to their export of hazardous wastes to Cambodia.

"In the past, Formosa Plastic has constantly externalized the economic and environmental costs of its chemical wastes upon helpless residents of Taiwan, said Lily Hsueh of the Taiwan Environmental Action Network. "Now, we stand in solidarity with the California groups in preventing Formosa Plastic from afflicting more people or contaminating more places, whether they are in Cambodia, the United States, or in Taiwan."

"We will not allow this deadly toxic waste to be shipped across the ocean to be dumped on a low-income community of color here in California," said Bradley Angel, Executive Director of Greenaction. "We will take action to stop the shipment and stop this ongoing environmental injustice."

For more information contact:

Jane Williams, California Communities Against Toxics (805) 256-0968

Bradley Angel, Greenaction (415) 566-3475

Lupe Quintero, California Rural Legal Assistance (760) 353-3979

Jim Puckett, Basel Action Network (206) 720-6426

Lily Hsueh, Taiwan Environmental Action Network, (510) 649-0647.

(1) U.S. EPA has restrictions against the burial of mercury bearing waste (land disposal restrictions) above TCLP leach test levels of .2 parts per million (ppm). Yet tests from the Hong Kong EPA show that the waste has a TCLP level of .80 ppm.

For more information on the Cambodian Waste Dumping Incident visit BAN website at; www.ban.org

EPA approved mercury-laced material for disposal in Imperial Valley but foes force reconsideration.

By Tony Perry, Times Staff Writer

A proposal to import 8,500 tons of mercury-contaminated toxic waste from Cambodia for dumping at a landfill in the Imperial Valley has hit a snag after encountering angry opposition from environmental groups and community activists.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing its initial approval of the plan after being given documents by environmentalists suggesting that the hazardous waste is more dangerous than a South Carolina waste disposal firm had stated.

The toxic waste, dumped illegally in Cambodia by a Taiwanese firm, led to mass hysteria last year after the mysterious death of a villager who had come into contact with the material.

Safety-Kleen Corp. of Columbia, S.C., is seeking state and federal permission to treat and bury the material at its hazardous waste dump site outside the farming hamlet of Westmorland, which is about five miles south of the Salton Sea.

On Monday, the EPA announced that it had approved the Safety-Kleen proposal, thought to be the largest foreign importation of toxic material in state history. By Wednesday, the agency had retreated and said it will review its decision.

"We're still reviewing the technical information," EPA spokeswoman Paula Bruin said Thursday.

Under the Safety-Kleen plan, the waste, a byproduct from making PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pipe, would arrive by ship next month at the Port of Los Angeles and be trucked inland.

But environmental groups say the sludge-like material, packed in metal drums, is far more toxic than the company led the EPA to believe. They also argue that dumping outside Westmorland, a low-income, heavily Latino community, constitutes "environmental racism" and violates a 1994 directive by President Clinton that orders federal officials to consider the impact on surrounding low-income communities when making decisions concerning the handling of toxics.

"We don't want to be dumped on," said Rosie Nava-Bermudez, an Imperial Valley health worker.

If the EPA, after reviewing the toxicity level, gives its approval to Safety-Kleen, the issue would then go to at least two state agencies for review. A coalition called California Communities Against Toxics has sent a plea to Gov. Gray Davis.

Environmentalists fear that the shipment could be the opening wedge toward making California the dumping spot of choice for "renegade" Asian manufacturers. There are three hazardous waste dumps in California: the one outside Westmorland and dumps at Kettleman City near Fresno and Buttonwillow near Bakersfield.

"We do not want to become the pay toilet for the Pacific Rim," said Jane Williams of California Communities Against Toxics.

The material was dumped illegally last year in an open field outside the Cambodian resort city of Sihanoukville after being brought to Cambodia for disposal by Taiwan-based Formosa Plastics Corp., one of the world's leading petrochemical companies.

Local villagers, unaware of the poisonous nature of the material, carted off armloads of the crushed concrete for use as fertilizer. Plastic containers were ripped up for floor mats and other domestic uses. When a teenager died after sleeping on one such mat, rumors swept the villages that the concrete and plastic containers were deadly. Mass hysteria led to traffic jams and the deaths of four people.

The Army had to be called in to restore order. Three Cambodian customs officers were charged with accepting bribes to let the material into the country. The international scandal led Cambodia to fine Formosa Plastics and force it to promise to remove the material by the end of April and find a suitable dumping site.

Asia's legal dumping sites have been outstripped by the region's rapid industrialization. California law presupposes that foreign companies may seek to export toxic waste for disposal at the three "class A" dumps in California and sets up strict guidelines for the permit process.

So far, such exports have been small in quantity and mostly from manufacturers in Mexico, officials said. "The U.S. has the safest, strictest, more environmentally sound facilities," said Bruin.

Jim Puckett, a Seattle-based official with the Basel Action Network, which monitors an international convention governing traffic in toxic waste, said allowing Formosa Plastics to send the waste to California would encourage Asian companies to delay coming to grips with the region's toxic waste problem and need for disposal sites.

"EPA is opening the floodgates to turn Westmorland and the other two dumps in California into international toxic waste sites," he said.

Safety-Kleen, in its application to import the waste, said it contains 0.012 parts per million of mercury. The state allows the Westmorland dump to take material of up to 0.2 ppm of mercury. But in a conference call with regional and national officials of the U.S. EPA, the environmentalists said that tests done by environmental officials in Hong Kong showed a mercury level of 0.8 ppm.

An opposition rally is planned in downtown Westmorland, population 1,700. The Imperial County Board of Supervisors plans to discuss the issue Tuesday.

By Chhay Sophal

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia (Reuters) - A controversial shipment of mercury-laced Taiwanese waste is expected to leave Cambodia for the United States this week, officials said Wednesday.

''The 357 containers of waste are being loaded on a ship and we expect the ship to leave Friday from Sihanoukville,'' Om Yentieng, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen, told reporters in this southern port.

The waste, illegally dumped in Cambodia last year by Taiwanese petrochemicals giant Formosa Plastics Corp, was packed in 18,195 sealed drums weighing 5,000 tons. It was loaded on the M.V. Eagle Prosperity.

A government official, who did not want to be named, said it was expected to be taken to the United States.

The ship containers bore the stamp of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the words ''quarantine'' and ''restricted entry.''

The Los Angeles Times reported last Friday that South Carolina-based Safety-Kleen Corp was still seeking permission to treat and bury the waste at its hazardous waste dump site outside the hamlet of Westmorland in California's Imperial Valley.

The paper said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was reviewing its initial approval of the plan after being given documents by environmentalists that suggested the industrial waste was more dangerous than the firm had stated.

Environmentalists have also charged that dumping outside Westmorland, a low-income, heavily Latino community, constitutes ''environmental racism'' in violation of a 1994 presidential directive.

The paper said it was thought it would be the largest foreign importation of toxic material in California history.

The waste was illegally dumped on open ground outside Sihanoukville and its discovery in December sparked riots in the town in which at least one person was killed.

Several others died in accidents during a panicked exodus of some 10,000 people from the town. Formosa Plastics initially said the concrete-like rubble was safe for landfill disposal, but later acknowledged some of it might slightly exceed safety standards.

Tests showed that much of the waste contained very high levels of mercury.

Environmental groups and human rights workers said at least two people died after exposure to the waste, although the causes of death were never confirmed.

Safety-Kleen has described the waste as ``low-grade'' mercury waste from the production of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pipe.

Sen Jiing Lim, a plant manager at Formosa Plastics, told reporters it had been processed using strict quality control techniques. ''No mercury will leak out and cause harm to human bodies. The technique has proven the most reliable in the world.''

Westmoreland, California, 31 March 1999 -- In what community and environmental justice activists hail as a precedent setting victory, toxic waste firm Safety-Kleen has just notified the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the mercury-contaminated wastes dumped illegally in Cambodia by Taiwan chemical giant, Formosa Plastics will not be dumped in Westmoreland, California. The waste which now totals 36,000 barrels will instead be returned to the factory site in Taiwan as had been demanded by the activists.

Safety-Kleen's announcement came following Westmoreland community outcry and shortly after they received a letter from EPA announcing that "EPA has determined to rescind its previous letter" approving the shipment and recommends "that Safety-Kleen seek to delay the shipment of waste from Cambodia to the United States pending resolution and clarification of the waste characterization issues."

"We are very happy we have won this victory," said Leonard Mendez of Westmoreland, "now we will fight to close this dump down for good."

EPA reversed itself after local, state and international environmental justice groups expressed outrage that the EPA had relied on only one sample of the mercury-contaminated waste provided by Safety-Kleen and had failed to take into consideration the executive order on environmental justice. The environmental groups provided EPA with the results of independent testing done by the Hong Kong EPA, the National Institute for Minimata Disease and others which documented very high levels of mercury in the waste. Additionally, US Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein had both written letters to EPA Administrator Carol Browner protesting the lax controls over imported hazardous wastes apparent in the case.

"This is an enormous victory for health and environmental justice and a big defeat for Safety-Kleen and Formosa Plastics who had hoped to turn tiny Westmoreland into an international toxic waste dump," said Jane Williams of California Citizens Against Toxics.

"We demand that plans to import waste for dumping in low-income communities of color in the U.S and everywhere cease," said Bradley Angel, Executive Director of Greenaction. "We will continue to oppose such environmental racism."

"This waste being returned to its sender is a wake-up call for corporate responsibility," said Jim Puckett of the Basel Action Network, a group trying to end international waste dumping. "Governments must demand that pollution is eliminated at source and never again allow polluters to profit from dumping toxic wastes on poor unsuspecting countries or communities."

"We are very happy this waste will finally be removed from Cambodian soil. Now international groups must stand vigilant and in solidarity to ensure that this waste is stored safely and above-ground on Formosa Plastics' property," said Lily Hsueh of the Taiwan Environmental Action Network. "Formosa must not be allowed to add these poisons to the many tons they have already dumped on the Taiwanese people."

Taipei, April 1 (CNA) Taiwan's Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) on Thursday demanded that the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) take adequate measures to handle its toxic waste without provoking further international disputes.

Fu Shu-chiang, director of the EPA's Solid Waste Control Bureau, instructed FPG, a local petrochemical giant, to find a suitable destination as soon as possible to dispose of its mercury-laden industrial waste, in light of the fact that the US Environmental Protection Agency has withdrawn a permit for the waste to be shipped to California for disposal following strong opposition from local residents.

Stressing that the EPA will closely monitor how the FPG handles the much-disputed toxic waste, Fu claimed that there is no evidence to back foreign wire service reports that the company is planning to transport the nearly 3,000 tons of toxic substances back to Taiwan.

At a news conference, FPG Manager Lee Chih-tsun also brushed aside the reports, saying that FPG is planning to transport the material to a third destination via the southern Taiwan port of Kaohsiung.

The foreign reports sparkled fierce protests from Ting Shan-lung, head of Kaohsiung County's Environmental Protection Bureau, and Liu Lung-chuan, chief of the local Jenwu Township, with the two men accusing FPG of long-term pollution of the environment in Jenwu, where several FPG plants are located. They demanded FPG relocate its plants elsewhere.

The 3,000 tons of mercury-contaminated industrial waste were produced by one of the Jenwu plants.

The toxic waste was shipped to Cambodia last November, where it was dumped at a landfill in a southern village. However, poor handling of the waste by the local contractor, and the discovery by environmental officials that the waste contained a wide range of toxicity levels, panicked local residents and prompted grave concern from the international community.

Forced to find another destination for the waste, FPG reached an agreement with a US waste disposal company which was going to store the waste at a California landfill, until public outcry from the people living in the vicinity of the proposed site drove the US EPA to revoke its previous approval for the shipment.

By Ker Munthit

PHNOM PENH (AP) -- Nearly 3,000 tons of toxic waste that was secretly dumped in Cambodia was being shipped back to Taiwan on Friday, a port official said.

A freighter set off with the mercury-laced sludge that had been dumped Dec. 5 near southwestern Sihanoukville port, said the port's deputy director, Va Sunnat.

''Now we feel relaxed and can enjoy the Cambodian New Year,'' the official said by telephone, referring to the upcoming holiday.

The waste, produced by Taiwan's Formosa Plastics Corps, led to a scandal after it was discovered. The death of a dock worker who handled it sparked rioting in Sihanoukville, and four people were killed in traffic accidents as panicked residents fled.

A man who rummaged through the waste also died. But environmental officials seeking compensation from Taiwan say they don't have evidence connecting any deaths directly to the waste.

The waste had been due for disposal in the United States. But the Environmental Protection Agency rescinded approval for its import after learning that its toxicity may exceed U.S. safety standards.

Formosa Plastics President Lee Chih-tsun said the company was still seeking EPA permission to send the waste to the United States.

Formosa has apologized to Cambodia but refused to accept responsibility or pay compensation, blaming the fiasco on an unidentified third party and the Cambodian importer.

National Assembly President Prince Norodom Ranariddh has alleged that a $3 million bribe to unidentified government officials led to the dumping. Three port officials and the Cambodian importer face charges in connection with the scandal.

TAIPEI, April 10 (Reuters) - Taiwan's Formosa Plastics Corp on Saturday vowed to ship the mercury-laced industrial waste it has taken back from Cambodia to another country within 60 days.

''We have no plan to keep the waste here. We have agreed to transfer the waste to overseas in 60 days,'' a company executive said of the controversial waste, shipped back from Cambodia and stored at a transshipment zone in southern Taiwan.

The cement-like waste in 357 containers arrived at Kaohsiung Harbour in southern Taiwan on Friday.

The waste was dumped in late 1998 on open ground outside the southern Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville and its discovery in December sparked an panicked exodus in which several people died.

Formosa initially said the concrete-like rubble was safe for landfill disposal, but later acknowledged that some of it might slightly exceed safety standards. Tests showed that much of the waste contained very high levels of mercury.

The executive said Formosa has posted a bond of T$50 million ($1.52 million) to the Kaohsiung Harbour Administration to guarantee it would ship the waste in 60 days.

The executive said although the waste posed no health or environmental risk after it was solidified, the company would still ship it to an advanced country, preferably the United States, for disposal.

Formosa Plastics shipped the 5,000 tonnes of waste to Taiwan after the Cambodian government ordered its removal.

The company originally wanted to ship the waste to the United States, but the plan fell through after environmentalists persuaded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to revoke a dumping permit.

SEATTLE -- Environmental groups today denounced a plan to import over 7,000 tons of mercury contaminated toxic waste via the ports of Tacoma or Seattle to a dumpsite in Idaho. The toxic waste produced by Taiwan plastics manufacturer Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) created an international scandal when it was illegally dumped in Cambodia late last year.

To date the controversial waste has been rejected by communities in Taiwan, Cambodia, California and Nevada for environmental and health reasons. Environmentalists maintain that the toxic waste should remain in Taiwan to be treated and stored there on FPG company property.

However, unless this region's office of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Idaho officials take action as have their counterparts in California and Nevada, it is likely that the massive shipment of waste now packed in 357 large shipping containers will soon be headed into Puget Sound and then be trucked out on Interstate-90 and finally dumped at the

Envirosafe facility, located in Grand View, Idaho.

"Because there are few activists working on industrial waste issues in Idaho, that state has become the latest target in an irresponsible global dumping game which finds these poisons shuttled down a path of least resistance," said Laurie Valeriano, Director of the Industrial Toxics Project for the Washington Toxics Coalition.

In a meeting called by environmentalists last Friday, Region X EPA Administrator Chuck Clarke confirmed that the likely route of the waste, now packed in 357 shipping containers would be through Puget Sound, via the ports of Seattle or Tacoma. Mercury waste is known to be very toxic and is bioaccumulative in marine organisms. An accidental spill in Puget Sound could contaminate shellfish and food fish for many years to come.

"When other states have rejected transport and dumping through their regions, the last thing we want is for Puget Sound to become the potential sacrifice zone," said Kathy Fletcher, Executive Director of People for Puget Sound. "A water accident involving these shipments would be devastating to our already contaminated marine food chain."

The toxic waste, now sitting in Kaohsiung Harbor in southern Taiwan, created an international furore late last year when it was dumped illegally near the Cambodian port town of Sihanoukville. The Cambodian dumping incident was implicated in the deaths of two persons exposed to the waste, and 5 others who died in the riot and panic that followed the discovery of the toxic import. It was reported in Cambodian newspapers that bribes of 3 million dollars were paid by FPG to facilitate the Cambodian importation. When Cambodia demanded the removal of the toxic wastes following the scandal, FPG complied but then tried to send the waste to the Safety-Kleen landfill in California.

This failed when EPA, citing uncertainties over the content of the waste, rescinded their initial authorization to receive the waste following protests including letters of concern written by both California Senators. Safety-Kleen later decided to drop the very lucrative contract saying "it has been determined that this material is more complex than originally believed."

Indeed there remains much doubt as to what the waste contains besides high levels of mercury. It is known that the highly toxic organic compounds dioxins, and furans are present and the waste could very well contain other hazardous organic compounds used in the plastics industry such as phthalates.

EPA Regional Administrator Chuck Clarke stated in last week's meeting that the EPA would not make any decision until he was "comfortable" with the characterization of the waste. He also agreed to allow a "public process" although he did not confirm whether communities along the transport route including Seattle or Tacoma would be consulted or included.

EPA officials also expressed a concern shared with the environmental groups that this shipment could be the tip of an iceberg of massive future exports of Asian waste to the US west coast. During the meeting EPA officials admitted that there are no criteria in existing or even in proposed US legislation that restrict toxic waste from flowing into the US once it had been notified and the receiving facility is authorized to deal with it.

Without a strong policy limiting toxic waste imports, environmental groups believe Asian companies like FPG will never be compelled to implement waste prevention practices at source. Congressman McDermott has voiced similar concerns and will be raising these soon with the EPA.

"We are doing Taiwan no favors by volunteering to serve as their toxic trashbin," said Jim Puckett of the Basel Action Network (BAN) a Seattle based organization that monitors international traffic in hazardous waste. "Taiwan must embark at once on a program to reduce toxic wastes at source. And rather than importing toxic wastes, the United States should be exporting the needed waste minimization and stabilization technologies," he said.

For more information contact:

Laurie Valeriano, Washington Toxics Coalition: 632-1545 Ext. 14

Kathy Fletcher, People for Puget Sound, 382-7007

Jim Puckett, Basel Action Network (BAN), 720-6426

For more information on the Taiwanese waste story visit BAN website at: www.ban.org

[BACK]   [HOME PAGE]