Published: May 07, 2008 01:14 pm      

Callous disregard needed for such an enterprise

The Times-News recently reported that the EPA is investigating Global Marketing Systems, a company based here in Cumberland, for exporting a vessel, the Oceanic, containing toxic PCB's to India. Federal law currently prohibits their export. A spokesperson for GMS denied the allegations, claiming that the charges are most likely a result of NGOs or individuals attempting to further their own agendas.

It's not clear what they think that agenda would be, given the emasculation of the EPA which has occurred during the Bush Administration. There is only one party here whose motivations are suspect. GMS makes huge profits in this enterprise, profits derived at the expense of the health and safety of the thousands of Indian, and Bangladeshi, and Pakistani laborers that find dangerous and often deadly work destroying ships similar to the Oceanic.

Tankers and other large vessels come to die along the coastlines of South Asia because of the presence of a cheap, expendable labor source and a complete lack of environmental regulation.

Out of this necessity, workers are forced to work in highly toxic environments at great risk to their health. PCB's, asbestos, lead, arsenic, and mercury are among the toxins often found onboard. Subsequently these toxins leech into the water and sand of the shore and into the lungs and blood of the culturally vibrant people living and breathing a livelihood there. For this work they earn only a few dollars a day, the 21st century equivalent of slave labor.

Information about ship-breaking from reputable sources is not hard to find. Ubiquitous themes of pollution and extremely poor working conditions thread their way through nearly all of them.

The CBS news show 60 Minutes has even reported on the horrors of ship breaking in a 2006 story entitled "The Ship Breakers of Bangladesh." In that report Bob Simon describes the working conditions of a yard in Chittagong, Bangladesh as something that belongs in a "nightmare." "The workers toil in tough conditions. They have no unions, no safety equipment, and no training. About 50 are said to die in accidents each year; often in explosions set off by blowtorches deep inside the fume-filled holds."

With none of the government structures in place to ensure safety, a proper work environment, and reasonable wages enjoyed by laborers in the U.S., workers on the coasts of the greater Indian Ocean are left with little recourse for themselves or their families if and when accidents occur. This trend of locating hazardous and unhealthy industries in poorer communities that have limited capital and limited political power defines environmental racism throughout the world.

The 60 Minutes report also suggests that many of the ships are bought without ever being examined or even seen by their new owners. This leads to the conclusion that often ship-breaking companies are unaware and unconcerned with the toxic freight that such ships carry.

The Basel Action Network, BAN, an organization devoted to stopping the "globalization of the toxic chemical crisis" has posted on their website an article specific to GMS and the Oceanic. The article explains that documentation of the Oceanic's sale was not submitted until after the ship's final departure. This suggests an effort by GMS to circumvent EPA authority and the law. The article quotes the maximum penalty for the violation at $32,500 per day per violation.

Certainly, Global Marketing Systems is entitled to our withholding of any explicit assumption of guilt until the EPA investigation is further under way and its findings made public. I encourage this community to look at the practices of GMS and similar enterprises with a skeptical eye.

It is a frequently made argument that watchdogs making a passion out of pointing out injustice aim to undermine working class America, and in this case working class India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. There has been and will continue to be a fine line between the numerous benefits of a free market system and the repercussions we are forced to live with when greed and unfettered capitalism are set loose upon the world.

For now GMS can rest assured that there are a few of us that will continue to pay attention, and understand the degree of callous disregard for human life and dignity required for such an enterprise. Thankfully, if indeed the EPA determines negligence, the disgrace you represent to some of us in this community will be clear for all to see.

Seth Moessinger
Cumberland