Taiwan firm to take back waste

Taiwan firm to take back waste

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia (Reuters): The Cambodian government
said on Friday a Taiwanese firm will take back 3,000 tons 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 apologize 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 Organization'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.