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"Suspected to be carcinogenic", DW: Hazardous wastes returned to Albania, still in "open sea"

2024-11-03 16:05:21Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
"Suspected to be carcinogenic", DW: Hazardous wastes returned to
Ilustruese Photos / Ports of Durrësit

After it had passed through two European Union ports, one in North Africa and one in South Africa, and finally ended up in Asia, the 102 containers of hazardous waste – which there are suspicions containing carcinogens – were returned to Albania at the port of Durres, where they left on July 4 this year.

Four months ago, the shipment was launched to Copper Metal Company Ltd in Thailand, a company without the capacity needed to handle such waste. But a tip obtained through a confidential source from basel action network, an environmental organization based in the United States, raised alarm that the shipment contained hazardous waste.

Hazardous waste, transit to some ports

"The remains were initially moved to Italy. The amount was loaded into two different merchant ships of the Maersk: Maersk Candor and Maersk Campton. Both ships followed the same route, but they sailed many days apart. From Italy they travelled to Malta, Morocco, South Africa and then Singapore. It is thought they crossed the west coast of Africa to avoid the Red Sea area, due to Houthi piracy. The ships had decided to dock in South Africa but after we informed the government, they turned off the locator lanterns as far away as Singapore. This "disappearing into darkness" was very unusual," Jim Puckett, BAN's executive director, told Deutsche Welle.

BAN's fears were related to the dust content of these containers, which belong to "Kurum", the Turkish steel processing industry company in the former Metallurgical Combine of Elbasan. "We fear that this shipment contains the substance our confidential source claims: steel dust released from electric arc furnaces. It is designated as hazardous waste. The ash that accumulates in furnace filters contains mainly dangerous heavy metals such as lead, cadium, zinc, nickel etc. But it also contains toxic cancer-causing elements, such as dioxins, furans, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons," Puckett explains.

Read "Spy, rabbit", prosecuted by judge, 31-year-old
Kurum company has not so far admitted that the cargo belongs to the company. In a media response on August 21 this year, after BAN raised the alarm about the suspected substance, the company said: "Kurum International has never exported hazardous waste, so even in this case this shipment that is not exported by Kurum International."

The waste from Kurum resulted in being bought by the exporting company "Sokolaj" – already under investigation by the Durres prosecution – which claims that it did not export hazardous waste.

In August, through a joint press release, the Environment and Infrastructure Ministry unanimously expressed their opposition to the return of the amount of waste that had been diverted to Thailand. Albania cannot accept the return of such charges, much more so on the basis of suspicion and speculation, without carrying out exhaustive analyses and reliable and verifiable legal evidence.

Environmental and health
consulting Valbona Mazreku, biologist and executive director of Milieukontakt Albania, an organization that cooperates with civil society on environmental issues, is part of the group of organizations that is cooperating with BAN for full transparency of this event that has already taken on international dimensions.

"Before the containers were loaded onto the ship, it was noticed that the pile of waste was open and under the act of atmospheric factors, contaminated the surrounding environment – air, soil and water – but also health. However, only after the tests can more be said about it. But it is believed that these waste in containers are still open and will need to make their packaging according to the type of waste and relevant protocol, i.e. in highly secure packaging and that are not corroded by atmospheric factors and do not allow for possible drainages" – argues Mazreku for DW.

According to Mazreku, the sampling and analysis must be done by specialized and licensed subjects. "It requires not only professionalism, but above all transparency and full information to the public and international partners," she said.

The ban also requested transparency, but their request has so far been rejected by the Ministry of Environment. "We met with the Vice Minister of Tourism and he refused our request to be present in the samples from the containers. He referred us to the prosecution, which is investigating the case. We will send the request to the prosecutors," Puckett said.

International investigations

This time, the police crossed the borders of the territory. OLAF, the EU Anti-Fraud Office, appears to have been involved in investigations into the shipment of suspected dangerous substances. Accompanying documentation for the export of 2100 tonnes of waste, which have also transited to two European ports, is expected to reveal many details still unclear from this story.

Deutsche Welle contacted the European Commission press office for a comment about the event and asked them if EU institutions were involved in the investigation. Until the time of publication of this article, the EC did not respond to our interest.

"EU directives are becoming increasingly strict in terms of exporting this waste to non-EU countries that do not have the capacity to recycle or finally treat them, banning this completely. And I believe we all agree that Albania wants to be part of the EU not only in words but also in deeds" – says Mazreku. /WS


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