Thread: AZ: Border to get hazardous waste inspectors

Border to get hazardous waste inspectors
GARRY DUFFY
Published: 07.03.2007
Arizona has no inspectors for trucked-in hazardous waste from maquiladoras at its three major points of entry on the border with Mexico.
That will change with funding that will be made available to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality under the state budget signed recently by Gov. Janet Napolitano.
"No one either at the federal or state level is inspecting hazardous waste shipments coming into Arizona from Mexico," Steve Owens, ADEQ director, said Monday.
As a result, no one really knows what is coming across the border at Nogales, Douglas, or San Luis. Nor does anyone really know where it may be going.
Maquiladoras are American-owned companies that have set up manufacturing south of the border to take advantage of cheaper labor costs and laxer environmental regulations.
Federal law requires that the maquiladoras have to ship hazardous wastes generated at those factories back to the United States for disposal.
That law also allows other generators of hazardous waste to send it from Mexico to this country, Owens said.
Arizona has no designated hazardous waste disposal facilities for such materials. All legally disposed hazardous waste from Mexico must keep traveling until out of state.
But such hazardous waste still must be transported through the state, mainly on Interstates 10 and 19, both of which pass through the Tucson area. Pima County environmental officials are aware that such waste travels through the metropolitan area, but have no regulatory authority over it.
"The state is the first responder," Frances Dominguez, spokeswoman for the Pima Department of Environmental Quality, said Monday.
Area rescue and law enforcement agencies would respond to an emergency, such as a hazardous waste spill, but operation oversight would fall to the state, Dominguez said.
Each of the three border crossings will get an inspector to monitor what is coming through. They will track destinations of shipments to ensure that the waste is being safely and legally disposed of at authorized sites out of state, Owens said.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/56413.php

Outrageous!

WHY IS HAZARDOUS WASTE FROM MEXICO BEING DISPOSED OF IN THE USA? WTF?

Federal law requires that the maquiladoras have to ship hazardous wastes generated at those factories back to the United States for disposal.

That law also allows other generators of hazardous waste to send it from Mexico to this country, Owens said.

I certainly like to see a more indepth story on this!

If these U.S. companies are allowed to re-locate to Mexico and benefit the Mexican economy, then they should certainly be able to get rid of their waste in Mexico. This makes absolutely no sense at all!

I wonder if Lou Dobbs would be interested in this story? Perhaps CNN would find this a worthy story for investigation.

BTTT

Wanted to make sure everyone saw this.