The Nation - News from April 20, 1987

A 3,000-ton barge load of garbage from New York has been moved from an oil rig off Grand Isle, La., where it was moored, but it will be a hazard as long as it is in the Gulf of Mexico, Grand Isle Mayor Thomas A. Marullo said. He said he did not know the barge’s destination. The garbage came 1,400 miles from Islip, N.Y., which is running out of room in its landfill and no longer accepts commercial solid waste. Officials in North Carolina, Alabama and Louisiana have said they do not want it in their states. A hearing has been scheduled Thursday on whether the garbage could be disposed of at a Louisiana dump, but the barge was moved out of Louisiana water at the request of state environmental officials.