Toxic Swedish mining waste is shipped to Chile

Legacy of “toxic playground” continues

In 1983, the Swedish mining company Boliden decided that it needed to dispose of 20,000 tons of lead and arsenic contaminated smelter waste that had accumulated over the years at its Ronnskar plant, one of the most heavily contaminated site in Sweden. Boliden explored several options for disposing of its waste. One option considered was building a lined container in Sweden. This was the solution recommended by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Boliden instead chose the least expensive option: to ship the waste by boat to Arica, Chile, where it would supposedly be further “processed” by the Chilean company PROMEL.

It was well known at this time that the law would very likely soon change and prohibit Boliden from shipping such waste to a developing country. Indeed, Swedish law was changed in 1985, and the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal was enacted not long after, prohibiting this precise type of conduct.

Boliden maintains that it first sent a couple of laboratory scale samples to PROMEL and to both the Chilean customs authority and Chile’s central health authority. However, the form submitted to the health authority by PROMEL stated that the material was “non-toxic,” which was a clear lie. Nonetheless, this was “Pinochet Chile,” and the authorities allowed the material to be imported.

A first shipment was sent to Chile in August 1984. In October of the same year, Rönnskär’s Environmental Manager made a second visit to the site to see how the material had been processed. Boliden admits that “full-scale processing had not yet begun, but trials using 500 kilo batches had yielded positive results. It was decided that the second delivery would be postponed until positive results had been obtained from larger scale tests.” In October 1984, Boliden was notified in a one-sentence telex that PROMEL claimed to have begun full-scale processing and was now awaiting the next delivery. A second consignment was dispatched in November 1984, and the third and final consignment left Boliden in July 1985.

A city is poisoned

Perhaps after brief and unsuccessful attempts to process the waste, PROMEL abandoned those efforts and instead left the waste sitting uncovered at the edge of the city, within one mile of the port. Children romped on this toxic playground for years, and the lead and arsenic dust blew into the surrounding area as well. From 1989-1996, not realizing that the waste was toxic, the city of Arica built housing developments within yards of the waste. People in those houses eventually became sick.

In 1998, following public uproar over the harm being caused by the waste, the huge pile was moved by truck to a location slightly further from human habitation. In 2009, the government concluded a study and came out with a plan stating that the area surrounding the original dumpsite was still contaminated, and that people living in the area should be relocated. This has not happened.

The real victims: children

Both arsenic and lead pose special problems for women during their childbearing years. During pregnancy, women may pass these toxics on to their fetuses. Developing fetuses and children are particularly vulnerable to the neurotoxic effects of arsenic and lead. Hundreds of cases of poisoning have been identified in Arica over the years, including the newest victims: children born years after the toxics were brought to Arica.

In 2003, in response to a visit to Sweden by Arica’s Mayor, Boliden wrote to the city of Arica, offering to work on a solution to the problem. Boliden’s offer was conditioned on the company being paid for its work, including payment for business class air travel to Arica. Not surprisingly, the offer was declined.

EDLC and lawyers in Sweden and Chile have been investigating the case. A lawsuit in Sweden is under active consideration.

Toxic Swedish Mining Waste Is Shipped to Chile

- Boliden website