Dear friends.
 
Friends of the Earth Norway would very much appreciate your advice on the 
following subject:
 
- How to put the chemical producers as Bayer and Monsanto responsible for the 
PCB-products they imported to Norway during the 60- and 70'ies.
 
Do you know any international laws or agreements on this?
 
Have any of the environmental organizations had any luck in this direction?

During the weeks to come Friends of the Earth Norway are going to publish the 
results and assessments from the"Big Toxic Hunt". This summer this campaign 
travelled along the Norwegian coastline looking for potential sources for the 
PCB-pollution in our harbours and fjords. We found high levels of 
PCB-contamination (500ppb and more, highest 8 ppm) in the seafloor outside 
shipyards, paint manufacturing plants, metal recycling plants and outside one 
chemical factory.
 
We now want to push a clean-up action at this sites, and we are considering how 
costs should be shared among the government, the local sources, and the 
PCB-producers.
 
We have identified the producers, (due to the"chemical fingerprint" in the samples, 
and interviews with the Norwegian PCB-buyers), at most of the sites to be Bayer, 
Monsanto, Kanegafuschi/Mitshubishi and Rhòne Poulenc.
 
This should be the same situation in may countries - do you have any useful 
information to send us?
 
Yours sincerely
 
Per-Erik Schulze
Norwegian Society for Conservation of Nature (Friends of The Earth Norway)
P O Box 342 Sentrum
N-0101 OSLO
NORWAY
Telephone: +47 22 40 24 00
Telefax: +47 22 40 24 10
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Internet: http://www.ngo.grida.no/ngo/naturvern/engelsk/index.htm




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