Tecate Recycling Setup Valid, Head of U.S. Firm Says : Mexicans Disputed in Waste Dumping

Contradicting the statements of Mexican officials, the chief officer of a U.S. firm that helped arrange for the transport of toxic wastes from the United States to the Mexican border town of Tecate said Wednesday that the material was destined to be used in a valid recycling operation in Mexico.

Darrel Duisen, chief executive officer of U.S. Technology and Disposal Services, denied the material was “just dumped on a roadside,” as Mexican officials have alleged. He said it was placed at a site that had been studied by various “well-regarded, respected” engineering firms working in the field of toxic wastes. Duisen declined to name any of the firms.

Mexican investigators say they have seen no evidence that the site was in any way prepared for a waste recycling plant or for disposal of toxic substances. In fact, there is no facility in Baja California that is licensed to recycle toxic wastes, said Cesar Velarde, a spokesman for the Mexican Secretariat of Urban Development and Ecology, Mexico’s environmental agency.

“We haven’t seen any sign of such a facility here,” said Ramon Quezada, a spokesman for Tecate Mayor Cesar Moreno.

The case has raised concern and spawned investigations on both sides of the border.

U.S. officials have expressed concern that it could represent a troubling trend of U.S. firms shipping toxic wastes south of the border to avoid stringent environmental regulations and high disposal costs in the United States. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has begun a review of the whole issue of toxic wastes going to Mexico. The U.S. attorney’s office in San Diego and California health authorities also have begun inquiries into the case, officials said.

In Mexico, authorities this month closed the dump, canceled new shipments of waste and ordered the Tijuana firm allegedly responsible for the dumping to return the material to the United States or move it to a safe dump in Mexico by Feb. 14. Mexican environmental officials have already imposed a fine of about $24,000 against the firm, Tratamientos Petroquimicos Mexicanos S.A. (Mexican Petrochemical Treatments).

U.S. Technology and Disposal Services, which is based in National City, was under contract with Tratamientos to do the paper work and otherwise act as a middleman in arranging for the transport of waste material to Mexico, Duisen said. He said the wastes originated with various “generators” in the United States but declined to elaborate. His firm followed all laws on both sides of the border, Duisen said.

Dozens of residents who live near the 10-acre dump site, which lies 15 miles east of downtown Tecate, have complained of various illnesses they fear may be linked to the material. After examining residents and the area water supply, however, Mexican health officials have concluded there is no link between the illnesses and the dump.

The dump is littered now with dozens of 55-gallon drums, pools of waste oils, sands, tar residues and numerous plastic bags filled with material that Mexican authorities have identified as asbestos and glass fibers. Mexican officials say samples are still being analyzed to determine their exact ingredients and potential toxicity.

Duisen, who declined to say what materials were shipped to the site, asserted that the recycling plant was still in the early stages of construction when Mexican officials suspended operations. “When you’re patching up a cake in the kitchen,” Duisen said at a news conference, “there are certainly stages when it doesn’t look quite right.”

Many questions remain about the origins of the waste material--how it got to Tecate, what exactly is sitting in the dump. Also unclear is how the cleanup will proceed and when it will begin.

Tratamientos Petroquimicos, the Tijuana firm allegedly responsible for the dumping, was given two alternatives: to return the waste to the United States or move the material to a secure dump in Mexico. The only secure dumps in Baja California are situated near Mexicali, the state capital about 75 miles east of Tecate, said Cesar Velarde, the Mexican environmental spokesman.

Toxic waste material would be allowed to enter the United States only if it were being transported by a firm licensed to haul toxic waste here and was being brought to a secure, federally approved dump site that met U.S. safety standards, according to federal officials. The hauler may also have to post a bond guaranteeing delivery of the material, said Jerry Martin, acting assistant director for inspection and control for U.S. Customs in San Diego.

U.S. authorities could cite no instances in which waste materials were transported from Mexico to the United States for disposal.