Rock ash and Puerto Rico

[Dolores]

DR1 News 21 March 2006:

Veteran Puerto Rico-based journalist John Collins writes to share the article he wrote on rock ash from Puerto Rico deposited in the DR.

"I think people in the DR would be very interested in the lawyer's opinion regarding the role of the GovtPR in not monitoring the toxic material exported from PR. In fact he stated that both US & PR govt agencies have to share the blame for this problem. I can assure you that the position of AES is that they had permission from the US & PR govts to ship it. The lawyer is also going to insist that if AES thought it was nontoxic then why didn't they process it in PR rather than ship it to the DR?," he asks.

He recently covered the issue for Trinidad-based Caribbean Investor publication: http://caribbeaninvestor.com/article...cle&field=4762

[Mirador]

Other developments from today's local news:


1) The Governor of San Cristobal had to call in the National Police when the Environmental Vice Minister and other officials were held against their will at the Palenque City Hall, after a meeting with municipal authorities including the Mayor, Mr. José Tamárez, who said there was a city ordinance prohibiting the transportation of the infamous "rock ash" through their town. The mayor exclaimed that central authorties would have to go over his dead body to bring the toxic waste through Palenque ("tendrán que pasar por encima de mi cadáver para llevar el material hasta aquí").

EL LISTIN ON LINE

2) Enco International, headquarted in the US, has made a formal offer to the DR government to clean up the "rock ash" and transport it safely to the US for disposal for US$13 million.

EL CARIBE ON LINE

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[Dolores]

We compile some of these recent issues in today's DR1 Daily News brief on rock ash--

21 March 2006:

Communities against rock ash decision
Yesterday, separate resolutions against the incineration of rock ash (also known as fly ash) in their communities were issued by the municipal councils of San Pedro de Macoris and Sabana Grande de Palenque, in response to the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources announcement that the toxic waste material would be transferred to Portland cement factories in those two areas. The council in San Pedro de Macoris declared itself in "permanent session" until the ministry provides the community with an explanation of the possible effects the processing of the material could have. Environment Minister Max Puig informed that AES Corporation would be indicted in the United States for its responsibility in the case. The state is seeking US$80 million in damages to health, the economy and the environment of the provinces where the toxic waste material was dumped (see DR1 Daily News 16 March 2006).
El Caribe reports that US company Enco International has offered to remove and transport the rock-ash to the United States for US$13 million. Enco would provide the number of ships required for the job and pay port fees, employees, storage, container operators, security expenses and US port fees. The firm has said it has not received any reply from the Ministry of the Environment.

[gardito]

Originally Posted by Dolores

DR1 News 21 March 2006:

"The lawyer is also going to insist that if AES thought it was nontoxic then why didn't they process it in PR rather than ship it to the DR?," he asks.

I was going to give a facetious reply, but naaaaah .....

E.

[steven9len]

The main lawyer working on the case is a man named Bart Fisher, a graduate of Harvard.There are also many others working between Dominican and American officials ex: Manfred Schweitzer. The man responsible for transporting the ash is named Roger Fina. He is already convicted and is sentenced to a Dominican jail. Unfortunately the case has not yet entered legal stages and is in the very early processes of negotiating. I was included in the document entitling us to go ahead and sue AES on behalf of the Dominican goverment. I want to ask all of you in this forum and anyone who reads it to please spread the news and post more articles because it is vital for a member of congress or the senate to step up in front of the house and make a statement regarding the ash. News of this is already very well spread and we are working on putting on tv on shows like 60 minutes but it would be a tremendous help if this could be spread across the internet.

[steven9len]

http://www.aes.com/aes/index?page=no...9f20825b007741

[Dolores]

See case file at http://dr1.com/news/2006/032706_AESsuit.pdf

[Hillbilly]

I have been hearing a lot of different things about this stuff.
1) it's proper name is "fly ash" not rock ash.
2) it is not considered toxic under the Bevill Amendment of the EPA Act of 1970
3) it is considered to be a high volume-low toxicity waste
4) it contains probably in the neighborhood of 100 ppm of Pb (lead) which will leach out as a result of acid rain-which does not exist in the DR
5) it contains calcium carbonate, calcium aluminate, some ferrous materials and silicates
6) it is used in cement is the United States. In fact 60% of cement poured in the US uses Fly Ash.

-A lot of the composition of fly ash depends on the coal used to produce energy.
-The amount of fly ash in Manzanillo has been calculated to be less than 10,000 tons
-It was originally brought in to set the base for a container parking lot.
-The coal fired units at Itabo and Barahona: Where does their fly ash go? Apparently, according to my sources, it is used by the cement factories of the DR

Somehow, I am getting the feeling that this may well be a tempest in a teapot, and the result of savvy use of press and environmental worries in a nearly defenseless (environmentally speaking, that is, nation. And one hell of a government move to get money (US$80 million = RD$2.5 billion) out of AES?? Or let a juicy contract to someone, a contract bartered by certain government employees for, say, 10% of the deal? US$13 million x 10% = US$1.3 million into someone's pocket?

I don't know..this stinks.

HB

[Dolores]

Bahamas newspaper story.

http://www.jonesbahamas.com/?c=45&a=8209

[Dolores]

Reuters coverage highlights that the Dominican government does not feel its courts are adequate to handle the case and thus the case is to be carried in the US.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N24317887.htm