ASBESTOS SHIP 'TWICE AS TOXIC'

PARIS February 13, 2006 (Telegraph) - A row over the fate of a decommissioned French aircraft carrier due for demolition in India took an embarrassing turn yesterday, after a report that the ship contained almost twice as much asbestos as the French government had previously suggested.

The imminent arrival of Clemenceau has provoked protests across India, with environmental groups warning that it will pollute waters and pose a health hazard at the Alang scrapyard in Gujarat.

Last week Admiral Alain Oudot, the chief of staff of the French navy, said the vessel carried 45 tons of asbestos, banned in France since 1997. Now a leaked note suggests that he actually put the figure at 75 tons.*

Greenpeace contends the tonnage to be greater still.

[The French government] guaranteed the clean and safe dismantling of the Clemenceau: the ship would only contain a small amount of asbestos. 'That is not true', Technopure officials declared. This company was contracted by the French government to decontaminate the Clemenceau before its trip to India, but ended this contract and disclosed the information on the real amount of asbestos onboard: at least 500 tons but it just as well be even 1,000 tons.

It grimly concludes:

France has very strict rules on the removal of asbestos. But the government does not hesitate to let Asian workers dismantle the Clemenceau with their bare hands. A recent report [01.20.06] by Greenpeace and FIDH [Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme/International Federation for Human Rights] reveals the consequences of the infamous French decision: death and destruction for the poorest of the poor in India.

The report documents wide-ranging estimates of remaining abestos for trans-boundary shipment: 22 tons (02.01.05, Ministry of Defense), 10-15 tonnes (03.22.05, Shree Ram Vessel Scrap Pvt Ltd, the shipbreaking contractor), 45 tons (01.06.06, Ministry of Defense), 500-1,000 tons (01.06.06, Technopure).

The usual petition (02.09.06) has been sent to the usual government humanitarian.

PROBLEM WILL BE IN INDIA, NOT IN FRANCE, SAYS TECHNOPURE

MUMBAI, India January 7, 2006 (TH) - "We realised that the problem will not be in France but in India," Eric Baudon of the French company, Technopure, told The Hindu after deposing before the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Wastes Management (SCMC) on Friday against allowing the asbestos-contaminated warship, Clemenceau, into India. Mr. Baudon said he and Jean-Claude Giannino came to India to give more information because of the differing statements made by French authorities and SDIC [Ship Decommissioning Industry Corporation], the French company that bought the ship. "We only want to be considered professionals," he said.

Technopure received no answer from SDIC [or the Indian companies contracted to handle the waste]. "It was not morally possible for us to accept that workers in such poor conditions would be handling the waste," Mr. Baudon said. This was one of the reasons why Technopure terminated its contract with SDIC.

The Indian magazine Frontline reports:

[Jean-Claude Giannino] confirmed that his company had made two proposals to the SDIC for cleaning up the ship. The first contract, a quotation for three million euros, proposed superficial decontamination, while the second contract, for six million euros, proposed more major decontamination work. Documents obtained by this reporter indicate that the French government had in fact received two price quotations from Technopure and chose to retain the cheaper option. This clearly indicates that far more could have been done and that economics has played a key role in how much asbestos has been removed.

Giannino also affirmed that his company had, at its own initiative, ended its contract with the SDIC. "Our contract stipulated that we would set up an industrial process for decontamination in India according to the norms prevalent in France. We were to train Indian engineers for that purpose. But not a single engineer turned up despite repeated requests. I realised that the SDIC wanted only a cover-up and had no intention of doing a serious job. We therefore ended the contract."

VERSAILLES COURT SCUPPERS BID TO BLOCK ABESTOS PROBE

PARIS February 4, 2006 (TH) - The French Government's case concerning the decommissioned aircraft carrier, Clemenceau, appears fast unravelling. A Versailles court threw out an urgent petition by the French State seeking to block an independent enquiry into the amount of asbestos on board the ship, now on way to India for dismantling in Gujarat. The Defence Ministry said it would not appeal the court's decision.

In yet another setback to the Government, the European Commission announced it was enquiring into the legality of sending the Clemenceau to India. ... Under the [1989 Basel Convention**], wastes containing dangerous substances should not be exported outside the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. India does not belong to this rich man's club.

[All emphases added.]

Other than the Palais de l'Élysée, it appears that much of France is prepared to do the right thing.

France, give it up with aircraft carriers.

UPDATE 02.15.06: Check out the shoddy reporting by AFP.

2004: The navy signs a deal with a French company, Technopure, to strip the absestos from the hull so the ship can be towed to the giant Alang yard in India, where it is to be broken up for scrap. Technopure claims that only 45 tonnes of asbestos remains in the structure.

In all the available documentation and testimony, Technopure does not put the remaining abestos for trans-boundary shipment at 45 tons. Its estimate is 500-1,000 tons, a figure quoted (as long tons) but not attributed by the AFP. The 45-ton estimate is the figure released by the Ministry of Defense. The government has repeatedly and perhaps criminally low-balled its estimates, though you'd never guess by AFP.

This is the sort of spun news to expect from a news ageny that is a creature of the state. In fairness, AFP did get the headline about right:

FRENCH AIRCRAFT-CARRIER: A FLOATING EMBARRASSMENT

* We surmise but cannot verify that all tonnage is given in a uniform measure, either English tons (2,000 English pounds/907.18 kilograms, short ton) or metric ton(ne)s (2,205 pounds/1,000 kilograms, long ton). A further possible muddle, "abestos" and "abestos-contaminated materials" are sometimes used interchangeably when referring to the disputed tonnage. To our thinking, the latter balloons the tonnage estimates.

** Full name: Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal

PFFT (What is this?): Out of France, out of mind 4 | Rayonnement français 0

Ah, Damian, you sly devil. I just now got your oh so subtle jest….

Friends, we have been lampooned by our web master!

Not to be outdone by our “high brow” chatter about plays and French playwrights, etc. you have come up with a wonderful parody for the title of this tread.

The Flying Frenchman, indeed!

Sign me as Der Fliegende Holländer!

LOL!