Environmental groups criticize Albania for delay in probing suspected toxic waste
Environmental groups have criticized Albania for its lack of progress in analyzing 102 containers suspected of carrying hazardous waste. The Basel Action Network (BAN) flagged the shipment, which contains an estimated 2,100 tons of toxic dust from the steel industry. Despite requests for lab tests, there has been no response from the Albanian government. The containers, initially destined for Thailand, were stopped due to concerns over their contents, which are believed to include illegally smuggled toxic waste from Kosovo and Germany. Activists demand immediate action and accountability from the authorities.
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Environmental groups on Tuesday criticized Albania’s silence and lack of progress in analyzing 102 containers suspected of carrying a large amount of hazardous waste.
Albanian prosecutors have put the containers in Porto Romano, 6 kilometers (4 miles) from Durres port, saying they would ask government institutions to conduct lab tests.
The Seattle-based Basel Action Network (BAN) last August flagged the ship to authorities after receiving information from a whistleblower that the containers on board are suspected to be carrying an estimated 2,100 tons of toxic dust from pollution control filters from the steel industry.
BAN and the local group Milieukontakt Albania o Tuesday criticized “the complete silence from the government and the apparent lack of any progress on the case from the government of Albania and the Durres prosecutor’s office.”
The government offices had no immediate response to a request for comment.
The containers left Durres on July 4, 2024, on two Maersk-chartered ships with the intended destination of Thailand. BAN alerted several transit countries about the shipment.
Thailand refused to accept the shipment, asking authorities in Singapore to stop it. The ships then docked at a Turkish port and the containers were loaded on the Turkish-flagged Moliva XA443A ship, which briefly stopped at the Italian port of Gioia Tauro before going to Albania, according to BAN.
The customs documentation stated the containers contained iron oxide, according to Albanian local reports. It is suspected the containers have toxic steel furnace dust collected from pollution control filters at an Albanian company and also illegally smuggled from Kosovo and Germany.
“We are not even sure that the samples have been taken and the analysis begun,” said Jim Puckett of BAN. “Illegal trafficking in hazardous waste is a serious matter requiring criminal sanctions under treaty Albania has signed. It is not acceptable to pretend it did not happen and hope it gets forgotten.”
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