Toxicity of Waste From Taiwan Angers Cambodians

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia —  Initial test results on tons of waste dumped by a Taiwanese company in Cambodia indicate that the mercury level was thousands of times higher than safety standards permit.

The waste, believed to be compressed industrial ash, was dumped a few miles outside Sihanoukville, 115 miles southwest of Phnom Penh, last month and discovered two weeks ago. Villagers living nearby have complained of exhaustion and diarrhea.

Environment Minister Mok Mareth said the first of three analyses of the 3,000 tons of waste showed a mercury content of 675 parts per million. Joyce Fu, a member of the environmentalist Green Formosa Front, said by telephone from Taipei that Taiwan regulations called for less than 0.2 parts per million.

The environment minister said he is waiting for tests from foreign laboratories before drawing conclusions about the Taiwanese waste.

“I think it is toxic, but I cannot say for sure today,” he said.

The waste was sent by Taiwan’s giant Formosa Plastics Corp. Fear over possibly toxic content caused a panicked exodus of residents from the seaport area.

Hundreds of soldiers wearing protective clothing have been packing the waste into barrels and shipping containers. Sihanoukville’s deputy governor, Khim Bo, whose home was ransacked by angry citizens in riots over the waste last weekend, said the cleanup could take three to four weeks.

A dockworker died a few days after cleaning the hold of the ship that transported the waste, sparking the riots in normally tranquil Sihanoukville.

Thousands fled the town, and police said four were killed in traffic accidents on the road.