A tanker, the Probo Koala, operated by an oil trading company based in the Netherlands, attempted to off-load 250 tons of petrochemical products in the Amsterdam port. The oil trading company indicated that the waste consisted of "regular slops," wash water from a ship's holds, which is normally laced with oil, gas, caustic soda, and other chemicals.

When port workers started pumping out the tanker, they realized the liquid in the ship's hold was not the kind the port usually acceptsit was thicker than normal and smelled especially foul. The workers believed the waste was hazardous and did not want to pump it out or handle it in any way.

After researching the ship and investigating what might be in the ship's hold, the Amsterdam port operator decided that it was not safe to dispose of the waste at the port for the agreed price. The new price, which included safe disposal, was going to be around $300,000 more than originally agreed.

The oil trading company declined and decided to move on with the ship to off-load the hold contents at an as yet undetermined location.*

Should the United States be concerned about situations such as these? Why or why not? Do the U.S. laws that you learned about reach situations like these? Should they?

What would happen if the Probo Koala was a U.S. based ship and the Port was located in the United States, say New Orleans? Would there be laws that would apply to the off-load of the contents in the hold? Say that the Probo Koala, looking to save money, instead travelled to coastal Mexico to off-load the hold? Would the same laws apply? Could those laws be enforced?

Finally, what answers to these questions say about the extent to which the U.S. protects the environment within and outside its borders?

* Note - this is a real news story.