Toxic waste dispute

Environmental and community activists have successfully halted a project to burn obsolete pesticides at a cement factory in Matola, 15 km from the Mozambican capital of Maputo, IPS reported on Monday. The factory in Matola, which dates back to colonial times, has a poor pollution and worker safety record and just last month, it emitted a thick haze for 40 minutes because its electrofilters malfunctioned. Environmentalists opposing the project said that toxic waste incineration was contested in developed countries because, even under proper safety conditions, cancer-causing compounds are released into the air and into the food chain, while factory workers also risked contamination. They argued that toxic leakages could seep into the underground water table. In May, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned about the danger posed by poor storage of toxic waste in developing countries. It said that metal drums were corroding and leaking, and could contaminate irrigation and drinking water.