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Poland Orders Dutch "Toxic" Ship to Leave Country |
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| POLAND: August 2, 2006 | ||
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WARSAW - Poland has ordered a Dutch ship carrying a large cargo of asbestos to leave the country following months of protests from environmental groups.
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The cruise liner "Rotterdam" arrived in February to the Baltic port city of Gdansk, where the owners planned to turn the ship into a conference centre and hotel after removing the toxic material. "We have taken a decision and the ship must leave the port of Gdansk ... possibly within two weeks," Poland's Maritime Economy Minister Rafal Wiechecki told a news conference. Wiechecki said port authorities allowed the ship owners to carry out some renovations, not realizing at first that the ship was carrying the material, which environmentalists said posed a serious health risk. The Rotterdam was built in the 1950s. Officials in Poland representing the owners, Rederij de Rotterdam B.V., said the company declined to comment on the decision but insisted that the process of removing the asbestos did not pose any risks. A company spokeswoman said the Rotterdam was carrying 500 cubic meters (17,650 cubic feet) of asbestos. Asbestos, a fire-retardant mineral, was widely used as insulation until the 1970s. Inhalation of its fibres has been linked to cancer and other diseases. "This is a signal that Poland will not be fooled and will not be turned into a trash dump," Wiechecki said. According to the environmental group Greenpeace, thousands of workers in the shipping industry in countries such as India, China and Pakistan may have died over the past two decades because of exposure to toxic waste.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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