The ''Khian Sea'' waste disposal incident was an incident in maritime waste disposal. The Liberian cargo ship ''Khian Sea'' was loaded with 14,000 tons of ash from waste incinerators in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in August 1986. After searching futilely for a place to dump the waste, the ship eventually dumped 4,000 tons near Gonaïves, Haiti in January 1988, and the other 10,000 tons in the Atlantic and

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

in November 1988. Since then, there have been attempts to take the waste from Haiti to somewhere else. The case contributed to the creation of the Basel Convention about disposal of hazardous waste.

Incident

Loading

On August 31, 1986, the cargo ship ''Khian Sea'', registered in

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

, was loaded with more than 14,000 tons of ash from waste incinerators in

First unloading

The city had previously sent such waste to

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, but that state refused to accept any more after 1984. The company handling the waste (Joseph Paolino and Sons) subcontracted shipment to Amalgamated Shipping Corp and Coastal Carrier Inc, operators of ''Khian Sea''. The latter intended to dump the ash in the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

. However, the Bahamian government turned the ship away, and Philadelphia withheld payment to the companies because the waste was not disposed of. Over the next 16 months, ''Khian Sea'' searched all over the Atlantic for a place to dump its cargo. Dominican Republic,

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, Guinea Bissau and the Dutch Antilles refused. Its return to Philadelphia also failed. In January 1988, the crew finally dumped 4,000 tons of the waste near Gonaïves in

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

as "topsoil fertilizer". When

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

informed the Haitian government of the origin of the waste, the Haitian commerce minister ordered the crew to reload the ash, but the ship slipped away. The Haitian government subsequently banned all waste imports. Local cleanup crews later buried some of the waste in a bunker inland, but the rest remained on the beach.

Second unloading

Next the crew of ''Khian Sea'' tried to unload the rest of the cargo in

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. After repairs in Yugoslavia, the ship's name changed to ''Felicia'', and registered in Honduras. Later it was renamed ''Pelicano''. These changes failed to hide the ship's original identity. The rest of the ash disappeared en route from Singapore to Sri Lanka in November 1988. The crew refused to comment but eventually the ship's captain admitted that they had dumped the remaining 10,000 tons of the waste into the Atlantic and

Aftermath

In 1993, two owners of Coastal Carrier were convicted of perjury, having ordered the dumping. The ship itself was broken up for scrap in 1992. Over the years, various attempts to return the ash dumped in Haiti failed. In 1997, New York City Trade Waste Commission investigated Eastern Environmental Services whose owner was part of Joseph Paolino and Sons. They agreed to give the company a license to operate in New York City in condition that it would contribute to the cleanup in Haiti. Eastern Environmental Services agreed to take the waste back.

and Haitian environmental groups launched a "Project Return to Sender" to lobby for funds. City of Philadelphia contributed $50,000. In April 2000, Waste Management Inc. in Haiti loaded 2,500 tons of ash and contaminated soil onto the barge ''Santa Lucia'' and shipped it to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, where the barge was docked in the St. Lucie Canal. It remained there until June 2002 when it was moved to Mountain View Reclamation Landfill, in Franklin County, Pennsylvania near Antrim Township, after several government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, had found the contents to be classified as nonhazardous waste.

References