Friends of the Earth

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TOXICS OFF TEXAS

The seeming serenity of the South Pacific belies that region's radiation-contamination problems

Last November the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held hearings in Texas to present its plan for the incineration of hazardous wastes on "burn ships" in the Gulf of Mexico. The agency was in such a hurry that it wanted to issue permits for burning 800,000 tons of toxic wastes — including liquid PCB's, DDT, and dioxins— before disposal regulations were even established.

Fortunately, more than 6,000 people showed up at the hearings to protest that plan. Among those who testified was Texas Governor Mark White. Witnesses spoke of the risk to the seafood and tourism industries along the Gulf Coast, and presented a petition signed by 10,000 opponents of the plan.

Even Jacques Cousteau joined the fray, stating before the committee that he "could think of no worse place for such dangerous chemicals to be transported than the sea". His comments were backed up by a statement from Greenpeace that, for every 100,000 tons of toxics burned at sea, 100 tons of highly poisonous material would be released into the marine environment, where it would enter the food chain. Moreover, the group explained, if an accident were ever to occur, a cleanup might actually be impossible!

PROBLEMS IN THE PACIFIC

Since the dawn of the nuclear age, the residents of the Pacific have seen their share of hazardous substances. And now, the French seem to be going out of their way to keep things hot in Tahiti. By the end of 1983 France had detonated 100 nuclear weapons, primarily on the nearby island of Muraroa, and many people suggest that the effects of these explosions are being covered up.

Teams of scientists have been brought in to study the situation, but observers in Tahiti have come to regard this effort as an empty gesture. According to Marie-Thérèse and Bengt Danielsson, two well-known antinuclear activists, the teams are typically flown in for no more than a few days . . . and are never provided with the data necessary to determine the real extent of the damage. By all appearances, we're told, the French have turned Tahitian islands into radioactive "Swiss cheese" and have made little effort to monitor the effects. More important, they've paid no attention to the impact of their tests on the atmosphere and water of nearby islands.

If the results of a study by the Bikini Atoll Rehabilitation Committee are any indication, folks in Tahiti should be concerned. Led by Harvard Medical School radiation biologist Dr. Henry Kohn, the group reported recently that the 23 nuclear devices exploded there have left the topsoil so contaminated that it would have to be replaced (or covered) before the island could be considered habitable.