Human Rights and the Environment

Case Study: Toxic Ship Dismantling

Country: Turkey

Region: Europe

Issues: Toxics, Pollution, Fisheries/Marine Ecology, Fossil Fuel

Due to the environmental threats associated with their transport, single-hull tankers carrying heavy fuel oil have been banned from EU ports by the EU and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).[1] As a result, many of these vessels are being dismantled in non-EU member countries, such as Turkey, where standards to protect workers and the environment from the toxic materials onboard are less stringent.[2] Referred to as ecological timebombs, these ships often contain hazardous wastes – including asbestos, PCBs, dioxins, heavy metals, and contaminated oil and ballast water – that could impact human health and the environment if not treated and disposed of properly.[3]

Over the next five years, Turkey is slated to receive more than 2,000 ships for dismantling from EU countries.[4] Despite the fact that Turkey is a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an international organization that requires environmentally sound management of hazardous waste, there is evidence that the toxic ships are not being handled properly.[5] Materials containing asbestos have been found lying around shipbreaking sites. Additionally, Turkey has failed to comply with requirements to disclose information regarding materials onboard the ships or to document resources that will be used to safely handle the toxic materials. In December 2004, members of Greenpeace Turkey demonstrated outside the EU building in Ankara, Turkey, protesting the EU's complacency regarding the matter.[6] The protesters alleged that present conditions violate the right of Turkey's citizens to safe working conditions, health, and a healthy environment, and demanded an explanation from the EU representation in Ankara.[7]

[1] See BBC News, EU to Ban Single-Hull Tankers (Dec. 6, 2002), at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2551721.stm (last visited Mar. 5, 2005); see also Transport Europe, IMO Agreement on the Withdrawal of Single Hull tankers (Dec. 19, 2003), on file with Earthjustice.

[2] See Greenpeace, Tanker Phase-out Poses New Environmental Disaster in the Mediterranean (Dec. 8, 2004), at http://www.greenpeace.org/mediterranean/news/details?item_id=676305 (last visited Mar. 4, 2005); see also BBC Monitoring, Greenpeace Protests Against EU Practice of Dumping Toxic Waste in Turkey (Dec. 8, 2004), on file with Earthjustice.

[3] Id.

[4] Id.

[5] See Greenpeace, Shipbreaking: Turkey, at http://www.greenpeaceweb.org/shipbreak/turkey.asp (last visited Mar. 4, 2005).

[6] See Greenpeace, Tanker Phase-out Poses New Environmental Disaster in the Mediterranean, supra, n. 396.

[7] See BBC Monitoring, supra, n. 396.

Last Updated: 09/09/05