[Previous entry: "Feingold Accuses Democrats of 'Cowering'"] [Next entry: "Russian Communist leader sees U.S. behind bird flu outbreak"]

03/16/2006:

"Dominican Rep. Seeks $80M for U.S. Dumping"

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Dominican Republic is looking to Washington for help recovering at least $80 million in damages from a U.S. utility it accuses of dumping thousands of tons of coal ash on the country's beaches, sickening residents and harming the tourism industry.

The Dominican government has hired a Washington lawyer to attempt to open settlement talks with the company, AES Corp., or failing that, to file a lawsuit in U.S. courts against AES before a two-year statute of limitations expires late next week.

The government says 82,000 tons of coal ash were shipped from an AES plant in Guayama, Puerto Rico, and left on beaches in Manzanillo and the Samana Bay port town of Arroyo Barril between October 2003 and March 2004 without proper government permits.

``It's had a devastating impact upon the economy of these two communities. Their tourist traffic is off 70 percent in Samana and down sharply in Manzanillo as well,'' said Bart Fisher, the Washington attorney hired by the Dominican government. ``It's had a devastating impact on the health of the people living near the toxic dumps in terms of respiratory problems and asthma, and some have died in fact.''
guardian.co.uk