Development & Aid, Environment, Tierramerica - Ecobrief

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Border Closed to Toxic Waste

BOGOTA, Jul 29 2006 (IPS) - Colombia will not import toxic or nuclear waste, according to a resolution by the Environment Ministry.

Environment chief Juan Lozano said the measure adopted July 21 “confirms that Colombia will not be able to import any type of dangerous waste, unless there is assurance of an industrial treatment process that mitigates all threat to the life and health of Colombians.”

Ecologist Carlos Escobar, adviser to the Environmental Corporation of the Atlantic, said in a Tierramérica interview that the measure will help resolve a problem whose true scope has not yet been realized.

Citing the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and reports from the Attorney General, Escobar said that in Colombia there are at least 5,400 tons of toxic waste buried or poorly stored — equivalent to nearly half the total for all of Latin America.