European union agrees to outlaw environmental damage

After an eight-year discussion, the European Parliament has agreed to legislation which will force national governments to apply criminal sanctions in cases of deliberate or neglectful environmental damage. The list of punishable environmental crimes includes: • Unlawful discharge or emission of substances into the air, soil or water in a way which is likely to cause “death or serious injury to any person” or “substantial damage” to the environment. • Shipment of waste. • Killing, destruction, possession, or trading of specimens of protected fauna or flora species, except when it concerns negligible quantities which have little or no impact on the specimen’s conservation status. • Actions which cause significant deterioration of habitats within protected sites. • Production, importation, exportation, placing on the market or use of ozone-depleting substances. In addition, the inciting, aiding, or abetting of such crimes is also considered a criminal offence. Further action was taken in a vote on May 21 to prevent European Union countries dumping toxic waste on beaches in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Waste dumping is an increasingly serious issue in these countries as aging ships are often sent here to be scrapped. The report and vote urges the EU to ensure that all EU ships are cleaned of hazardous waste before they are sent to these countries for scrapping. The practice of sending older ships to countries such as India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan for scrapping is quickly becoming contentious, due to the high accident rate for workers involved in the business in these countries. In addition, one in six workers involved in scrapping ships in these countries is affected by asbestosis, a chronic respiratory condition which develops as a result of heavy or long-term asbestos exposure. The United States has its own share of problems relating to the scrapping of aging ships. Recently the Environmental Protection Agency filed a complaint against a company it believed intended to scrap a liner containing large amounts of asbestos and PCBs. The EPA believed that Global Shipping LLC, based in Cumberland, Maryland, planned to scrap the SS Oceanic, a 682-foot liner, at a port in Gujarat, India. The EPA complaint, filed in San Francisco, imposed a fine of $32,500 per day, but the charges were denied by Global Shipping. The SS Oceanic was built in 1951 and reportedly carries 250 tons of asbestos, and 210 tons of PCBs. Both of these materials were widely used in ship-building prior to the late 1970s, and both are human carcinogens. Many environmental organizations are concerned about the possibility environmental and health effects of the dismantling of ships such as the SS Oceanic, not only because workers may be exposed to large amounts of the contaminants, but also because toxic chemicals are released in large amounts into soil and groundwater. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)