Some 110 tons of PCB-contaminated waste that were forced out of Seattle’s port last month may now be headed for Johnston Island, a wildlife refuge and U.S. territory 700 miles southwest of Honolulu. The waste, generated at U.S. military bases in Japan, was to be temporarily stored in Seattle, but enviros, dock workers, and Washington state politicians fought to have the waste sent back to Japan. Now the U.S. government is considering disposing of it on Johnston Island, which is surrounded by the largest collection of coral reefs in the U.S. but which has also been used by the military for missile testing and incineration of chemical weapons. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is opposed to the proposal because it worries that the PCBs could leak into the marine environment during one of the many hurricanes that hit the island.
