A ship carrying hundreds of tons of industrial waste, supposedly toxic, arrived this Monday, October 28, in Albania, the departure point of this shipment rejected by Thailand, after wandering at sea for several months.
“The ship is anchored in Durrës, about a kilometer from the port,” Jim Puckett, executive director of the organization Basel Action Network (BAN), which is based in Albania’s main port, in the west of the country, told AFP. country. where he awaited the arrival of the boat this Monday, October 28.
2,100 tons of suspicious waste
The container ship “Moliva”, which flies the Turkish flag, is loaded, according to the same source, “with 102 containers, or 2,100 tons” of suspicious, supposedly toxic, waste.
The shipment left Albania last July. According to the documents subsequently sent to Albanian customs, this is industrial waste, more specifically “iron oxide”, the export of which is authorized.
But, according to the information sent to the BAN by a whistleblower, it is “electric arc furnace dust.” Classified in the category of toxic waste, this powder must be stored and transported under very strict conditions.
change of direction
Finally rejected by Thailand, the waste turned around and returned to Albania after several months at sea and stops in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Turkey.
“There’s been a lot of controversy around the transfer of this waste. Some people say it’s not hazardous waste. We say we’re 95 percent sure it is,” Jim Puckett said later that day at a conference. press on. the port of Durrës. The NGO assumes that it is “steel dust collected by the filters of the Elbasan steel mills” (center), he added.
“If what we say is true (…) this export was a criminal export that should never have taken place,” protested Jim Puckett.
The Basel Action Network, based in the United States and whose representatives will be received during the day at the Ministry of the Environment, asks the Albanian authorities to participate in taking samples to determine what it is and identify “the producer and the origin”. of this waste,” explained Jim Puckett.
The Durrës prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation for “smuggling of prohibited goods” and “abuse of power”, in cooperation with the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).
While waiting for the arrival of the shipment, the prosecutor’s office ordered this Sunday, October 27, “the seizure” of the containers, in order to prepare their opening in “safe” circumstances.
The sending of industrial waste by Western countries to be subcontracted elsewhere, in Asia or Africa, is a global trade periodically denounced by environmental NGOs. It represents between 44 and 70 billion euros per year, according to their estimates.
Source: BFM TV
