TL: TOXIC ATTACK AGAINST LEBANON: FROM ITALY CHRONOLOGY SO: GREENPEACE MEDITERRANEAN DT: 1996 Keywords: toxics waste trade Lebanon Italy Beirut / TOXIC ATTACK AGAINST LEBANON CASE ONE: TOXIC WASTE FROM ITALY CHRONOLOGY April 1975: Start of the civil war in Lebanon. Beirut port is under military control of the right-wing Phalangist militia, later named "Lebanese Forces". September 21, 1987: The ship "Radhost" enters Beirut port transporting a cargo of industrial, highly toxic waste from Italy. 15,800 barrels of different sizes and 20 containers are unloaded. Militimamen from the "Lebanese Forces" cover up the entry of the waste, bribed by a share of money the Italian company "Jelly Wax" pays to "Arman Nassar Shipping", the Lebanese importer of the ship's cargo. An employee of the shipping company signs a document declaring the waste as "raw material for industrial production and for agriculture", thus disguising it. October 1987-Spring 1988: In Lebanon, waste barrels are sold as raw material to factories. Some of the toxic waste is used as fertilizers, pesticides and paints. Barrels are emptied, repainted so as to hide their origin, and sold to be reused, out of ignorance, to store food and drinking water. Waste barrels are burnt or emptied and their contents dumped into the quarry of Shnanir, east of Junieh. Other storage sites in Jeita and Zuk Mosbeh are also contaminated. Hundreds of barrels are dumped in the Mediterranean Sea or dumped in the waste dump of Burj- Hammud/Qarantina in east Beirut. March 1988: Lebanon's consul in Italy is asked to confirm the authenticity of a document declaring that all industrial waste from the "Radhost" was destroyed. He realizes the document is forged and alarms the Lebanese Foreign Ministry. June 1988: Lebanese media uncover the deal. The militia tries to cover up its involvement by producing forged laboratory reports. An investigation is opened in Lebanon. Several people are detained, interrogated and accused of having forged documents, illegally imported harmful and toxic waste, and sold substances spreading illness and polluting the environment. Despite the charges raised, the accused are released on bail. No legal steps are taken against them. Following a public outcry and pressure from Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss, Italy promises to take back all waste and to finance the operation. July 1988: Then Prime Minister Hoss informs parliament that the waste from Italy was very toxic and endangered the country. "Lebanese Forces" member C‚sar Nasr, responsible for the militia's foreign relations, claims most of the chemicals could be recycled. A committee of Italian and Lebanese scientists samples the waste and ranks it as 100% toxic. Outdated solvents and paints, waste from chemical laboratories, outdated medication, oil residues, sand mixed with dioxin possibly from Seveso, heavy metals, explosive and carcinogenic substances are found. August 1988: Italian experts arrive in Lebanon to supervise the transfer of the waste to Italy. The content of 5,500 partly rusty and leaking barrels is emptied in the vicinity of Beirut Port and mixed with sand and lime, polluting ground, water, and air, thus jeopardizing the health of the workers. Many are crushed by heavy mashinery. Lebanese scientist Dr Pierre Malychef, who was officially appointed by authorities to supervise the operation, voices protest. The militiamen force him to leave the harbor. The loading operation, controlled by C‚sar Nasr, continues without official Lebanese supervision. The barrels are loaded into at least four ships, the "Jolly Rosso", the "Cunski", the "Voriais Sporadais", and the "Yvonne A". Apart from the "Jolly Rosso", none of the ships ever reaches Italy. The three other vessels probably dumped their cargo in the Mediterranean Sea. Several barrels are washed ashore on the Lebanese coast. September 1988: Italian government officials go to court to force at least 22 waste producers and brokers to turn over 75 million dollars to meet the cost of transporting and treating incoming Italian waste from countries like Nigeria and Lebanon. "Jelly Wax" managing director Renato Pent responded indignantly to the lawsuit, insisting that his firm's exports to Nigeria, Togo, Senegal, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey had all been authorized by officials of those countries. "No way we will pay. We never sent waste just like that. We have letters from ministers from Nigeria, Togo, Senegal, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey with the stamps of the Italian embassies allowing the discharge of waste", Pent claimed. "The Italian government should seek reparations from foreign governments that refused to honor their commitments. And if they refuse to pay, the government should take the funds from the aid money for the Third World." January 1989: The "Jolly Rosso" leaves Beirut port despite protests of Lebanese authorities, demanding confirmation that all waste was being returned to Italy. The Lebanese Foreign Ministry issues an official complaint to the Italian embassy in Beirut: "We have the honor to inform you that the Lebanese government issued an official complaint regarding the shipment of toxic waste that is taking place in violation of all international health standards. The operation took place without cooperation between Italian experts and the official Lebanese committee of scientists that was forbidden to supervise the operation. The Foreign Ministry demands that the departure of the ship with the waste be postponed until the Health Ministry issues an authorization. The Foreign Ministry demands that the Health Ministry and the Lebanese committee issue a paper confirming the departure of all the waste before the ship leaves." This note was ignored, and the "Jolly Rosso" left without receiving an official Lebanese confirmation that all the toxic waste from Italy was shipped out of Lebanon. C‚sar Nasr, then in charge of the militia's foreign affairs, said in 1994: "I affirm sending out of the country the 6,000 barrels at the expenses of Mr Antonio Mancini (former Italian ambassador in lebanon) who paid for the operation 3.7 million dollars." April 1989: Four months after its arrival in Italy, some 2,000 barrels of waste are unloaded from the "Jolly Rosso". Italian authorities later claim that all the waste and contaminated land from Lebanon was on board of the ship. 1989-1990: Final stage of the civil war in Lebanon during which no further investigation of the toxic waste scandal takes place. War ends in October 1990 after heavy fighting in the areas controlled by the "Lebanese Forces" militia. March 1992: The case is reopened in Lebanon. A state prosecutor decides that those involved in the case could not face trial because their crimes were acts of war, hence covered by a general amnesty law. Two of the accused are charged only for committing minor crimes. June 1994: 30 barrels of solid waste are discovered in the Kisrwan mountains. The Environment Ministry produces, according to a Lebanese MP, forged laboratory reports stating that the waste is not harmful. The waste is later stored in a container at Beirut port. August 1994: Hundreds of inhabitants of the Kisrwan mountains prevent officials from the Environment Ministry and a small police force from dumping waste barrels in a stone quarry near a village. The action takes place secretly in the night. Without security measures, the barrels were to be dumped in a hole close to a river. This waste is later also stored in a container at Beirut port. Two containers with toxic waste are now at Beirut Port. November 1994: The Greenpeace flagship "Rainbow Warrior" arrives in Beirut. Following the demand made by the Lebanese ecological group "Green Line" that the nature of the waste be determined by an independent source, Greenpeace activists take samples from the two containers stored in Beirut port. December 1994: Several hundred goats die after drinking polluted water, a French report says. The Environment Ministery claims the goats died from a virus and from cold. January 1995: A Lebanese Army report leaked to the press says former members of the "Lebanese Forces", like C‚sar Nasr and Jamil Rima, had been appointed as advisors to the Environment Minister to cover up the scandal. Greenpeace publishes a report on the samples taken from the waste and analyzed: inflammable liquids, oil residues, highly toxic heavy metals and carcinogenic substances were found, suggesting that some of the toxic waste stored at Beirut Port could be part of the Italian deal. Greenpeace issues the warning that by planning to dump the water soluble substances in the aquifer region of the Kisrwan mountains, the Environment Ministry had risked to contaminate the ground water. February 1995: A day after the report is released, the Lebanese government orders a high-level inquiry. The "Higher Relief Council", a ministerial body, promises to launch a search for the barrels and to remove them. The cabinet decides to ask Lebanon's highest court for state security crimes to investigate the toxic waste scandal. The case is thus no longer solely in the hands of Environment Minister Samir Moqbel. Following harsh criticism, C‚sar Nasr, the advisor of the Environment Minister, resigns from his post. The prosecutor appointed to investigate the case, Mr Said Mirza, issues warrants for three men suspected of dumping waste during the war and arrests two of them. However, he also orders the detention of one scientist Dr. Pierre Malychef for allegedly giving false testimony on the waste scandal. A day before his arrest, the scientist stated that toxic waste was scattered around the entire country. Following a public outrage, Dr Malychef is released. Several Lebanese politicians and ecological groups demand that the waste still in Lebanon be found and returned to Italy. Italian authorities repeat their claim that all toxic waste had been returned in 1988, cynically stating it still had to be proved that the barrels with toxic waste recently found in Lebanon were part of the deal. March 1995: The waste scandal divides the government. Several Lebanese Ministers call for United Nations intervention, accusing the Lebanese government of trying to stage a cover-up. May 1995: Greenpeace's Lebanon campaigner Fouad Hamdan releases the report "Toxic Attack against Lebanon. Case One: Toxic Waste from Italy". He urges the Lebanese government to officially ask Italy to return the waste and to decontaminate polluted land. Lebanese authorities refuse to cooperate with Greenpeace taking samples from sites where waste was dumped or burned. Hamdan inspects dumping and buring sites, and takes samples. The Italian ambassador refuses a meeting with Hamdan. Lebanese state prosecutor Said Mirza interrogates Fouad Hamdan as "witness" for seven hours. The lawyers of two Lebanese men jailed by Mirza for involvement in the scandal file a law suit against Hamdan for "threatening Lebanon's state security and for defamation". Mirza decides to study the request. Under pressure by Lebanese journalists during a trade fair, Italian Undersecretary for Foreign Trade, Mr Mario D'Urso, says in Beirut: "The issue is now in the hands of the judiciary. We will execute all decisions it will take without any hesitation." Whilst such a statment indicates - for the first time - a change of attitude, it was due to diplomatic expedience and not any sincere motivations of concern. This position became necessary for Italy to take in view of the investigations being carried out by Lebanese authorities June 1995: Environment Minister Samir Moqbel loses his job in the wake of a government reshuffle. Sources close to Prime Minister Rafik Hariri say he had made only mistakes in dealing with the issue of toxic waste. July 1995: The new Environment Minister, Mr. Pierre Pharaon, says the two containers at Beirut Port were shipped to Europe for incineration. Greenpeace contacts him and offers cooperation in dealing with the issue of toxic waste from Italy still in Lebanon. September 1, 1995: Lebanese authorities force the Greenpeace ship "Altair" out of Beirut Port. Policemen cut the ropes of the ship, and a togboat pushes it outside the harbour. A navy patrol vessel than escortes the "Altair" outside the 12-mile zone. Auhtorities wanted to prevent Greenpeace from working on the issue of toxic waste and seeked to cover up the issue. Greenpeace Lebanon Campaigner Fouad Hamdan was scheduled to publish the latest sampling test results on board the ship the same day. Mr Pharaon claimed the same day that the ship arrived "directly from Israel", thus violating Lebanese law. Fact is that the "Altair" came from Cyprus where its crew members took part in a non-violent action in front of the French embassy to protest nuclear testing before coming to Beirut. Mr Pharaon also said the toxic waste file was closed because "there is no toxic waste and no pollution in Lebanon". He based his claim on a report written by the French company Burgeap for the Lebanese Environment Ministry. Hamdan held his press conference outside the port and released test results by the Greenpeace Research Laboratories at Exeter University (England) which showed that soil in the Shnanir quarry is contaminated by a cocktail of highly toxic waste: heavy metals (arsenic, zinc and lead), aromatic organic compounds, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, chlorinated substances like the highly toxic hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD), pentachlorobutadiene (PCBD) and hexachlorocyclopentadiene (HCCPD). HCCBD damages the lung and kidney. HCBD, PCBD and HCCBD are known to be carcinogens. These toxics could pollute ground waters used currently by people living in residential areas in and around Shnanir. All discovered toxics closely ressemble the contents of tons of toxic waste exported by the Italian company "Jelly Wax" to Lebanon in 1987. September 9, 1995: Greenpeace officially offers to cooperate with Lebanese authorities and to take samples under official supervision. No reaction from authorities. September 15, 1995: Greenpeace informes Lebanese public opinion that, in another attempt to cover up the issue, work recently resumed at the Shnanir quarry despite the fact that its soil contains toxic waste. The quarry had been abandonned since 1988. Sand and rocks from the quarry were mixed with layers of toxic waste and with ashes from waste that had been burnt. These highly contaminated materials were to be used in the construction sector. The problem was then shifted from one spot to many others. People getting in touch with contaminated construction material were endangered. September 21, 1995: Greenpeace charges that the Lebanese government deliberately misinterpreted its own sample test results to cover up the issue of toxic waste. Greenpeace studied the official data written by the French company Burgeap to the Lebanese Higher Relief Council (HRC), which is presided by Premier Rafic Hariri. The international environmental organisation discovered that Environmental Minister Pierre Pharaon bluntly fooled public opinion when he claimed on September 1 that the official test results showed that "there is no pollution in Lebanon." But Burgeap said in its report that in Shnanir, 25 kilometres northeast of Beirut, "after investigation, there is high suspicion that this site has been used to dump toxical waste from the central part down the wadi. Many wells are available downstream." Burgeap included in its report a map showing that its experts took samples some 200 meters west of the main quarry which, according to Greenpeace tests, is highly contaminated by toxic waste. In Zuq Mosbeh, 15 kilometres north of Beirut, samples tested by Burgeap proved contaminated by toxic clorinated substances and heavy metals like manganese. Burgeap wrote to the HRC: "Most the site is asphalted: It is then of great importance to get cross- checked evidence that it was already asphalted when waste storage occured. Neighbours' interviews and aerial photographs should be used in this purpose... Hydrogeological further investigation on this site should include comprehensive inventory of neighbouring wells." Burgep wrote in its report to the HRC that "most of the samples have been left to HRC to be analysed in Lebanon. A small ammount of those samples, mostly doubles, has been shipped to France by HRC, in order to conduct an extensive research." Burgeap proposed the dispaching of the samples in Lebanon to three Lebanese laboratories. However, Mr Pharaon, never mentionned that many more samples were taken than the 82 tested in France. He also never said that he will order further investigations in Shnanir and Zuq Mosbeh. The same night, Justice Minister Tabbara said Greenpeace Lebanon Campaigner Fouad Hamdan would be arrested for "damaging Lebanon's image abroad and the country's tourism industry". September 23, 1995: Prosecutor Said Mirza interrogates Hamdan for three hours. Hamdan took with him to the Justice Palace a suitcase with personal belongings because he expected to be arrested. After leaving the palace, Hamdan again blasts the Lebanese government for attempting to cover up the issue of toxic waste, and he reiterated Greenpeace's will to cooperate with authorities. September 29, 1995: Environment Minister Pierre Pharaon and Greenpeace's Fouad Hamdan hold a joint press conference during which both parties agree to cooperate in solving the toxic waste issue. Mr Pharaon officially receives from Hamdan all Greenpeace documents on this issue. October 8, 1995: Hamdan shows Mr Pharaon, HRC Secretary-General Yehya Raad and Mr Bertrand Guerin from Burgeap two contaminated locations in the main Shnanir quarry. Mr Pharaon and General Raad promise Greenpeace to decontaminate the Shnanir quarry as soon as possible. They also promise to implement all recommendations written by Burgeap. October 9, 1995: Greenpeace reveals that authorities in Lebanon are secretly collecting toxic waste barrels and contaminated land for planned incineration in Europe. The operation was carried out by the HRC and the Environment Ministry. Burgeap was supervising the secret collection and decontamination operation which was carried out on the ground by the British company "Environmental Technologies". Most of the collected waste is part of the 2,411 tonnes of toxic waste exported from Italy to Lebanon in 1987, Lebanese authorities told Greenpeace. The Lebanese tax payers are financing this operation - and not the Italian government. According to officials documents with Greenpeace, Lebanese authorities were secretly planning to get rid of at least 26 tonnes of toxic waste barrels and contaminated land in the Lebanese tows and villages of Tripoli (3 tonnes), Halat (0.2 tonnes), Bchille (2.4 tonnes), Zelhmaya (5 m3), Shnanir (0.2 tonnes) and Azouz (20 tonnes). Lebanese nationals involved in the scandal told authorities where they had dumped the waste in 1987/88, Greenpeace learnt. Greenpeace opposes the policy of the Lebanese government to carry out the collection and decontamination operations secretly. By doing so Lebanese Environmental Minister Pierre Pharaon is indirectly telling past and future toxic waste exporters that they can get away with their crimes. Public opinion has a right to know so that such an ecological crime is not repeated. "I asked Mr Pharaon why the Lebanese government is not officially demanding from Italy to fullfil its 1988 promise and return all the waste. He answered that Italy is giving Lebanon millions in grants and aid and therefore it would be inappropriate to embarrass Italy with the toxic waste," Hamdan said. January 1996: Lebanese Environment Minister Pierre Pharaon informs Greenpeace that more than 77 tons of contaminated land and toxic waste have been collected from several areas in Lebanon like Halat, Tripoli and Shnanir. The toxics were stored in Beirut Port and will be shipped for planned incineration in the Tredi plant in southern France. Parts of the toxics are of Italian origin, the rest is from the Lebanese industry, Pharaon said. Greenpeace Mediterranean Campaigner Fouad Hamdan inspects the 12 containers at Beirut Port. Her demands that the toxics are not incinerated for environmental consideration. They should be recycled if technically possible or stored safely. He also urges Lebanese authorities to return to Italy the toxics proved to be part of the 1987 deal. FOUAD HAMDAN LEBANON CAMPAIGN GREENPEACE MEDITERRANEAN OFFICE