Thursday, April 15, 2004
By Associated Press

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — The Dominican Congress has passed resolutions requesting that a 50,000-ton (45,500-metric ton) shipment of waste be returned to Puerto Rico after a commission determined that it contained unsafe levels of toxins.

The Senate-appointed commission, comprised of scientists and university experts, presented its findings Tuesday, saying the shipment contained levels of arsenic, cadmium, beryllium, and vanadium capable of harming humans.

The bicameral Congress approved two nonbinding resolutions demanding the government return the shipment to Puerto Rico.

Environmental Secretary Frank Moya Pon has not commented publicly on what will happen to the shipment, which arrived earlier this year from Puerto Rico.

A private power company in the neighboring Caribbean island produced the waste, which was deposited in the Dominican coastal communities of Manzanillo in the northwest and Samana in the northeast.

Source: Associated Press