Such things just don't happen in the USA, do they? Test Shows Taiwan Waste Very Toxic PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Initial test results on tons of waste dumped by a Taiwanese firm in Cambodia indicate the mercury level was thousands of times higher than safety standards permit. The waste, believed to be compressed industrial ash, was dumped a few miles outside Sihanoukville, 115 miles southwest of Phnom Penh, last month and discovered two weeks ago. Villagers living nearby have complained of exhaustion and diarrhea. Environment Minister Mok Mareth said the first of three analyses of the 3,000 tons of waste showed a mercury content of 675 parts per million. Joyce Fu, a member of the environmentalist Green Formosa Front, said by telephone from Taipei that Taiwan regulations called for less than 0.2 parts per million. Mok Mareth said he was waiting for two more tests from foreign laboratories before drawing conclusions about the Taiwanese waste. ``I think it is toxic but I cannot say for sure today,'' Mok Mareth said. The waste was sent by Taiwan's giant Formosa Plastics Corp., and fear over possibly toxic content caused a panicked exodus of residents from the seaport area. Hundreds of soldiers wearing protective clothing have been packing the waste into barrels and shipping containers. Sihanoukville's deputy governor, Khim Bo, whose home was ransacked by angry citizens in riots over the waste last weekend, said the cleanup could take three to four weeks. A dock worker died a few days after cleaning the hold of the ship that transported the waste, sparking the riots in normally tranquil Sihanoukville. Thousands fled the town, and police said four were killed in traffic accidents on the road to the capital. Lee Chin-chun, general manager of Formosa Plastics, said Thursday that his firm's waste had been treated and was not hazardous. He said the company would take the waste back if asked. Lee denied Cambodian government reports that $3 million in bribes had been paid to get the shipment past corrupt officials, but acknowledged that the Cambodian agent who handled the transport and disposal received $300,000. The Cambodian government has suspended 29 port and customs officials and arrested the president of the local company that helped import the waste. Prime Minister Hun Sen has demanded the waste be sent back and the government has announced plans to sue Formosa Plastics. A second dump in the area was discovered this week. Mok Mareth said that samples were being taken for analysis from the 800 tons of refuse, described in a May invoice as waste from plastic, oil and steel powder. Newspapers say that the waste resembles video tape and that bags holding it bear Korean writing.
