Australia's toxic waste shipment under fire
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Preparations are underway to send the first of four shipments of hazardous chemical waste from Sydney to Denmark this month, local media reported on Wednesday.
Australian and Danish governments agreed to dispose the 3,000- tonne shipment of waste from Australia at an incineration site in the south of Denmark.
In total, 16,000 tonnes of high-risk waste, or hexachlorobenzene, has been stored for years in the heart of a residential zone at Orica's Botany Bay facilities in Sydney. The waste was created by the production of plastics and solvents, and it must be destroyed safely.
The plan has sparked criticism in Australia.
According to Mariann Lloyd-Smith, from the lobby group Australian Toxic Network, the destroy of toxic waste can be done in Australia, and there is no excuse to ship the waste to another country, and no excuse for the Australian Government to allow it.
Lloyd-Smith said the ocean journey is a huge environmental risk that should be abandoned.
"Australia is a developed country, we're a wealthy country, we' re capable of dealing with our own waste in Australia," she said. "We've done it before and we should not be shipping our problems to some other country, some other distant community to deal with."
However, the multinational explosives and mining company Orica said there are no available options to treat its stored waste in Sydney, either now or in the foreseeable future.
Orica spokesman John Fetter said all precautions for the shipment have been taken, and the ship chosen to carry the waste is designed to carry dangerous goods.
"We'll be carrying all the containers below the deck with the hatches closed, so there's absolutely no possibility of a container falling overboard," Fetter told ABC News on Wednesday. " There's virtually no chance of a spill whatsoever and we're also taking an extremely cautious shipping route and being extremely cautious with the weather."
Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke said the deal with the Danish government was made with careful consideration, and the incinerator in Denmark is one of the world's safest.
The plan has also angered some in the Danish community, in particular those who live in the port town of Nyborg, where the waste will end up.
A campaign in Denmark has earlier delivered a petition with more than 2,500 signatures to the Danish parliament opposing to the Australian toxic waste shipment.
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