Fed: Toxic waste project gets green light
The federal government has signed off on a plan to ship 120-tonnes of toxic waste from13 Pacific islands to Queensland.
The AusAID-funded project will dispose of stockpiled agricultural chemicals and polychlorinatedbiphenyls, or PCBs, from old electrical transformers -- collectively known as persistentorganic pollutants, or POPs.
Project spokeswoman StEFANIE PIDCOCK says the POPs are toxic, don't break down quickly,accumulate up the food chain and pose a significant health risk to the Pacific islands.
She says recent studies show POPs move around the world through evaporation, affectingsea life and coastal communities.
The chemicals will be transported back to Australia for destruction in a CSIRO-designedfacility at Narangba, north of Brisbane, from May to July next year.
Ms PIDCOCK says the BCD Technologies plant uses high temperatures and pressures toblow apart hazardous molecules, rendering them harmless.
AAP RTV pjo/sc/rsm
KEYWORD: TOXIC (BRISBANE)
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