POPs IN AFRICA HAZARDOUS WASTE TRADE 1980 - 2000 ... - Arte

MOROCCO and WESTERN SAHARA
BASEL LOMÉ IV / COTONOU BAMAKO
National Policy: Morocco is not a member of the OAU.
Waste Import Schemes: Scheme: Allied Technologies
Date: 1987
Type of Waste: Dioxin Wastes
Source: Love Canal, New York, U.S.
Exporter: Allied Technologies, Maryland, U.S.
Pretext/Fate: Dumping
Status: Rejected by State of New York
According to the New York Department of Environmental
Quality, in 1987, a small Maryland firm, Allied Technologies,
applied to take dioxin wastes from Love Canal, New York, and
dump them in Morocco. However, the state of New York refused
to turn over the wastes.
Scheme: S.O.P. (Western Sahara)
Date: 1988
Type of Waste: Hazardous
Source: West Germany
Exporter: Sondermuell Organisation und Problemloesung
Pretext/Fate: Dumping
Status: Abandoned ?
On June 3, 1987, S.O.P. explained a waste trade scheme to the
Stuttgart regional board, which is in charge of licensing waste
exports. S.O.P. hoped to export at least 40,000 tons per month of
hazardous wastes from companies in the German state of Baden-
Wuerttemberg.
S.O.P. manager Otto Blosch admitted to the German Green Party
that he hoped to dump the wastes in phosphate mine pits in the
state of Western Sahara, which is currently occupied by
Morocco.
The wastes would have been collected in West Germany by the
firm of Schaal and Mueller and shipped to the abandoned mines
via ship and train. There, the wastes would have been stored
temporarily until sufficient funds could be raised to bury the
wastes in landfills.
The three representatives of the regional board raised no
concerns about the project, but stated that prior consent of
Moroccan authorities was necessary. Blosch claimed he was
promised consent by the Moroccan royal family. Blosch also
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