Steelworkers join Longshoremen, Teamsters and Evironmentalists in protest

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port3.gif (64734 bytes)The Wan He set sail from Yokohama, Japan, March 23 carrying among its hundreds of shipping containers the 14 loaded with transformers, circuit breakers, other electrical gear, oil, packing material, rags and related debris to be taken to a disposal facility at Kirkland Lake, Ontario. But Canadian officials rejected the shipment while the ship was under way, saying the Kirkland Lake operation could handle only waste generated in Canada.

When the Wan He reached Seattle members of local Longshoremen and Teamsters unions refused to unload the waste or drive it to a warehouse. After a few days of protest the Defense Department on Friday decided to leave the waste on board and not attempt to unload it in Seattle.