Developing Nations Used as Dumps: Industrial Waste Proves Harmful to Inhabitants

Bowers, Paige, The Washington Times (Washington, DC)

Several weeks ago in New Delhi, victims of the world's worst industrial accident gathered outside Parliament to protest a Supreme Court decision to drop manslaughter charges in the 1984 Bhopal gas leak.

More than 15,000 people have died since toxic gas leaked from a Union Carbide-affiliated pesticide plant 12 years ago. Most of the deaths are from what a Bhopal claims court says are the long-term effects of the gas.

But New Delhi is facing newer problems, mainly the thousands of tons of toxic waste illegally imported through its ports, waste that is affecting the nervous systems and poisoning the blood of the city's residents.

India is not alone in its troubles. Several other developing countries around the world have problems with industrial accidents and curbing the illegal influx of waste into their ports.

Much of this waste comes from larger, more industrialized nations, a situation that the world's environmental watchdog, Greenpeace, says is getting "completely out of control."

The United States tops the list of offending exporter nations outlined in Greenpeace's report, followed by Australia and Canada. The United …

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Publication information: Article title: Developing Nations Used as Dumps: Industrial Waste Proves Harmful to Inhabitants. Contributors: Bowers, Paige - Author. Newspaper title: The Washington Times (Washington, DC). Publication date: December 9, 1996. Page number: 14. © 2009 The Washington Times LLC. COPYRIGHT 1996 Gale Group.

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