Dutch Court Orders Return of Toxic Waste to Owners
A Dutch court Wednesday ordered toxic zinc waste turned away by Brazil in July returned to its original owners in Belgium, Italy and Denmark.
A Rotterdam court ruled the Dutch firm Magnus International must remove the 2,000 tons of toxic waste from the Dutch port where it has been stored after environmentalists and Brazilian officials prevented its disposal in Brazil.
The court said the firm would be fined $50,000 a day if it did not remove the dangerous chemicals within two weeks.
The ruling was a victory for the Dutch Environment Ministry, which appealed to the court to have the waste removed.
Magnus shipped 1,000 metric tons of toxic waste from Denmark and Belgium to Brazil in June. But the ship, the Pro Americana, was forced to return to Rotterdam after Brazilian authorities refused it entry, saying it carried chemicals the importer was not licensed to process.
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