Following The Trail Of Toxic E-Waste

60 Minutes Follows America's Toxic Electronic Waste As It Is Illegally Shipped To Become China's Dirty Secret

(CBS)  The recyclers are peasant farmers who couldn't make a living on the land. Destitute, they've come by the thousands to get $8 a day. Greenpeace introduced us to some of them. They were afraid and didn't want to be seen, but theirs are the hands that are breaking down America's computers.

"The air I breathe in every day is so pungent I can definitely feel it in my windpipe and affecting my lungs. It makes me cough all the time," one worker told Pelley, with the help of a translator.

"If you're worried about your lungs and you're burning your hands, do you ever think about giving this up?" Pelley asked.

"Yes, I have thought of it," the worker said.

Asked why he doesn't give it up, the worker told him, "Because the money’s good."

"You know, it struck me, talking to those workers the other day, that they were destitute and they're happy to have this work," Pelley told Puckett.

"Well, desperate people will do desperate things," Puckett replied. “But we should never put them in that situation. You know, it's a hell of a choice between poverty and poison. We should never make people make that choice.”

Pelley, Puckett, and the 60 Minutes team passed by a riverbed that had been blackened by the ash of burned e-waste.

"Oh, man, this is - it's unbelievably acrid and choking," Pelley said, coughing.

"This is an ash river. This is detritus from burning all this material and this is what the kids get to play in," Puckett explained.

After a few minutes in the real recycling area, we were jumped.

Several men struggled for our cameras. The mayor hadn't wanted us to see this place, and neither did the businessmen who were profiting from it. They got a soil sample that we'd taken for testing, but we managed to wrestle the cameras back.

What were they afraid of?

"They're afraid of being found out," Puckett said. "This is smuggling. This is illegal. A lot of people are turning a blind eye here. And if somebody makes enough noise, they're afraid this is all gonna dry up."

[redstateprty]

Wow you CBS news people are so brave, kind of makes me choke up.

[nateandjana]

That''s awesome! Finally some fantastic journalism..

[brsecu]

Its sad they take away the right to speak but they dont stop people like this? They are lucky they didnt get killed! Good Job guys! You should also check this out. Not sure why i cant post a link. I think something is wrong

[northstar62]

Guess what Scott. Your not in Kansas anymore.

[klb1964]

Leave ''em alone, they never were supposed to be environmentally responsible. Excused from Kyoto because they''re a developing nation... Nary a criticism during the olympics, but you''re all over it now, atta boy!

[cooks95]

This is kind of funny

[mytsoguy]

I fully expect that we will later hear this ''attack'' was staged. The Chinese guys probably did it for a pack of cigs.

[Howard Ino]

Once Obamanomics takes hold and we have 16% unemployment in the USA... we will be mining E-Waste at home... just so we can eat!

CAN''T WAIT ! ! ! !

If you don''t believe it... watch the stock market for the next 30 days!!! Investors will be selling their stocks ASAP to avoid the confiscatory Obama Cap Gains rates!

"I feel a bad moon rising" J Fogerty

[smpickens]

China is a mess, this story is proof and that is at least a start in terms of shedding light on the human rights travesty

communicationtopics.com

[anniep8]

I only wish I could feel sorry for the "newspeople" but after this election, I sort of think it''s funny and well deserved. Besides, after your in the tank twisting of the news for Obama and your biased protrayal of McCain/Palin, how am I supposed to believe anything you say? You could have just set this whole scenario up. I woulnd''t put it past you. Nobody believes anything you guys say anymore. Oh, by the way, how''s Dan Rather doing?

[Howard Ino]

Once Obamanomics takes hold and we have 16% unemployment in the USA... we will be mining E-Waste at home... just so we can eat!

CAN''T WAIT ! ! ! !

If you don''t believe it... watch the stock market for the next 30 days!!! Investors will be selling their stocks ASAP to avoid the confiscatory Obama Cap Gains rates!

"I feel a bad moon rising" J Fogerty

[n2dubes]

Seems like an honest mistake to me. Probably mistook the CBS team for more E-waste.

[lennysrv]

Given the outrageous liberalism, partisanship, and dishonesty of the traditional mainstream media, I have to say "Give these Chinese guys some kind of reward."

[nevlin-2009]

Imagine, eight dollars a day, the price of survival. I suppose, they would have shot your sorry ***, if they would have had guns. However, they took away the guns from the civilians long ago. Disarm the population and feed them with lies. GREAT MEDIA show at the Olympics! Eight dollars a day sounds pretty good now. Ah, the media ... saviors of the planet. Tools of the Government and Industry too. ***!

[n2dubes]

Seems like an honest mistake to me. Probably mistook the cbs team as more E-waste.

[wepeople2]

How appropriate. The Chinese doing the work that many Americans want to do: rough up 60minutes crew and feckless correspondents. You anti-American people won''t look into anything that matters in our presidential election yet you go snooping into people''s lives on the otherside of the globe. Too bad you have something to bring back. They should have processed you over there.

[lennysrv]

Too bad Danny Rather wasn''t among the crew. I would have paid to see him soil himself. Could be that one of the Asian guys was named ''Kenneth''?

[pargolfer301]

I guess this is what Obama means when he says the US should be more like China.

Looks to me like those Chinese guys are just trying to survive and make a living. Yet here comes the liberal cavalry blowing there horns on them. You just can''t win with these people. They''d rather see these workers go begging for scraps than try to start up a business.

[nevlin-2009]

This has been going on in one form or another for decades! Nothing new here. Maybe the Big O will sit down with them and make their lives better. I really doubt it. This is a model for the politics of the Big O regime. First, they remove the dissenters from the media, then ban guns from the law abiding public, tax EVERYONE to pay the way for the lazy and uneducated (your kid will not do good in college anyway), keep the borders open, and generally screw everything up. I hope not, but since the Big O has yet to provide any real substance to his ideas, we will just have to guess at his intentions. I would rather guess wrong, than be caught by surprise. Advice: watch your money, buy guns and ammunition, and watch the festivities. Great show those Chinese put on at the Olympics for all the feeble minded suckers. Go Oprah! Away!

Looks to me like those Chinese guys are just trying to survive and make a living. Yet here comes the liberal cavalry blowing there horns on them. You just can''t win with these people. They''d rather see these workers go begging for scraps than try to start up a business.

[cooks95]

You can travel 10,000 miles away to make enemies of another country that is a huge trading partner. You can''t travel a few hundred miles or less to look into who Bill Ayers is or ask Obama some probing questions about that relationship that would help us all understand who Obama is.

[nevlin-2009]

"... can travel 10,000 miles away to make enemies of another country ... You can''''t travel a few hundred miles or less to look into who Bill Ayers is ..."

EXACTLY.

[bagori-2009]

This electronic equipment can and should be safely landfilled. Sorry
Some odd enviormental group has convinced us all that recyling is good. In fact this is the type of horror that it leads to. Do any us us really believe that we have the resources to process all the trash we pick up in those colored bins outside our houses. After those oil eating trucks take it away they bundle and ship it overseas to the detriment of the enviorment.

[txgrouch2007]

Saving metal - costing lives.

Environuts, IS IT WORTH IT???

Are we ready for TARIFFS to protect American workers from having to compete with these envoronmental terrorists???

[mstapp]

*** Bush! This was going to change. Yes it can. Lets talks to the commies, ruskies, and islamo-facists.

[pomoc-2009]

this is what is going to happen, a tv crew will simply disapear and there is not a dam thing any buddy can do about those thuge governments . This is just asking for it and it will happen.

[txgrouch2007]

Bush! This was going to change. Yes it can.
Posted by MichaelStapp at 05:53 PM : Nov 06, 2008

LOL! Now you''re blaming Bush for CHINA???

Sorry, but that was Slick Willy so buddy-buddy with China, Vietnam, ALL or our Communist former enemies. Giving them Favored Nation status, EVEN THOUGH HE KNEW this was happening.

*** SLICK WILLY!!!

[acerdude-2009]

I have almost no sympathy for yur news outlet becuase your liberal leftist mass media folks are so rotten that you try to silence AMERICAN VOICES HERE AT HOME! Pro-American, pro-family values, pro-Christian, pro-conservative voices which fought against communism and still fight against it today, are the one you mass media folks work hard to silence and belittle here on our soil. Shame on you.

[txgrouch2007]

What ever happened to "Never Again"?
Posted by PJR888 at 05:50 PM : Nov 06, 2008

What happened is CHEAPER IS BETTER, AT MADE-IN-CHINA-MART!!!!

Wasn''t Hillary on the Board of Directors of WalMart, where most EVERYTHING is made in China?

And she said she DISAGREED with NAFTA. Yah, she wanted free trade with CHINA.

[izzyeddy]

What else does China allow to kill off their own citizens? Shame on you Evil Chinese Government for all you do to your people.

[pjd4900]

While it is sad these poor people risk their lives with real risky business, CBS has deserved good beatings for many years.
How about the e business making products that last and not for just a year. My hp printer was only 5 years old and I was told to throw it away because it would cost more to get it repaired than to buy a new one. Same with my phone. I say throw away CEOs.
CBS, why don''t you do stories on the *** that US companies have manufactured in China that just go from our dumps to theirs.
In the meantime, CBS, hope this beating is just the beginning after what you arrogant, lying trash do to good, decent people like Gov.Sarah Palin.

[kpreston11]

Ok, we have got to keep our trash out of countries in which they do not live up to the same disposal standards as we do, I get that; meaning, I am not cool with causing hardships on people from other countries from my discarded trash. That being said, I know of several companies here in the Dallas - Fort Worth market that totally depart computers and refurbish them for re-use. The free market acutually works when there is a profit & a need. My question for CBS & 60 minutes goes to the heart of the, "Blame/hate America first far left liberal agenda." Why does CBS & 60 Minutes have to travel all the way to China just to report on an issue that makes the US look bad? Do you really have that much hate and disgust for this country that you could just be so irresponsible? Of all the issues our society faces today, THIS! is the one issue you can find time and money to report on in order to make US (the American people) look bad? How dare you! Have you (CBS & 60 minutes) forgotten that when you report on America, you are also reporting/representing ME?! WHY? Why the pure hate and disgust for this God Blessed land of freedom and opportunity? Are you that angry and upset? I think you (CBS & 60 Minutes) owe the American people a sincere heart felt apoplogy for being such abusers of our trust and for calling yourselves journalits! You all are more like doom & gloom cheerleaders, sadly.

[txgrouch2007]

What else does China allow to kill off their own citizens? Shame on you Evil Chinese Government for all you do to your people.
Posted by izzyeddy at 05:59 PM : Nov 06, 2008

What, have you been living under a rock?

This is NORMAL IN CHINA. They do it EVERYWHERE in EVERY INDISTRY.

Chinese workplace safety is AMONG THE WORST IN THE WORLD. Their lack of safety standards, and lack of enforcement, is ONE REASON WHY THEIR PRODUCTS ARE SO CHEAP.

And why we have NO HOPE OF COMPETING WITH THEM. Which is why WE ARE LOSING OUR MANUFACTURING JOBS TO THEM.

Stop pretending to be stupid like you didn''t know this.

[pjd4900]

While it is sad these poor people risk their lives with real risky business, CBS has deserved good beatings for many years.
How about the e business making products that last and not for just a year. My hp printer was only 5 years old and I was told to throw it away because it would cost more to get it repaired than to buy a new one. Same with my phone. I say throw away CEOs.
CBS, why don''t you do stories on the *** that US companies have manufactured in China that just go from our dumps to theirs.
In the meantime, CBS, hope this beating is just the beginning after what you arrogant, lying trash do to good, decent people like Gov.Sarah Palin.

Gotta laugh at the liberal cavalry charging in to save these poor Chinese dudes. For all their good intentions these workers will now be begging for food rather than trying to make some money. Gee thanks.

[pblog]

PJR888 - the Holocaust? Are you serious? Comments like that diminish real Holocaust atrocities. A country having no environmental respect is not at all comparable to genocide, enslavement, torture, human medial experiments, rape, property seizure, discrimination, shall I go on? Such statements are outrageous and offensive

Is the toxic practice bad - of course.

Unless everyone is going to play by the same rules the Kyoto agreement only stifles our business, yet our atmosphere is being poisoned by those who aren''t playing by the rules. So impose every restriction on American companies so they can''t stay in business or they can''t compete with goods developed in countries without restrictions. What has been accomplished? Has the dirty practice been eliminated? No, it''s just operating in a different zip code. And now another country has the benefit not the American company. If we are not careful, we will regulate ourselves to be dependent on not just foreign oil, but foreign food, foreign clothes, foreign goods.

Gotta laugh at the liberal cavalry charging in to save these poor Chinese dudes. For all their good intentions these workers will now be begging for food rather than trying to make some money. Gee thanks. It''s time for 60 minutes to go out of business.

[earlgrey3]

I guess Scott Pelley isn''t admired in China anymore than he is here in the US of A. Gee, Scott did those dirty old Chinamen treat you mean and take your camera? It''s called Communism, Scott. I thought you progressive TV journalist had a more compassionate view of those totalitarian countries. But don%u2019t worry Mr. Pelley, with Barack and his comrades in control of our once great country, we will be just like China in the not too distant future.

Gotta laugh at the liberal cavalry charging in to save these poor Chinese dudes. For all their good intentions these workers will now be begging for food rather than trying to make some money. Gee thanks.

[brianbwb-2009]

"...Why does CBS & 60 Minutes have to travel all the way to China just to report on an issue that makes the US look bad...?" Posted by kpreston11

If you knew that a foreign country was dumping toxic waste into your surroundings, and you knew that the toxicity caused birth defects, death, and made your environment such that you could not even drink water safely, would you care about the offending country''s false self image?

Conversely if you were the offender, do you claim right to protect a false self image by suppressing the information?

At least you show a modicum of sense to know that this is wrong, and it makes the perpetrators look bad, but this is almost nothing compared to the Austrailian-US operation at the Freeport mine in Indonesia.

These are the so-called "freedoms" that Bush says other countries hate us for.

[mrider63]

Remember how old "Danny Boy" Rather used to sign off with "COURAGE"? Looks like some of his CBS vassals didn''t get the word; they cut and run even before their blood was spilt. Of course if they were gunning for Bush or rooting for BO they would have had shown more of that "COURAGE" (aka "BIAS") and stuck to the story like a dog on a bone. Are the "Chickens Coming Home to Roost?"

[cant9562]

I agree with pjd4900 and others. After Charlie Gibson''s condescending talk with Sarah Palin, and the way Katie Couric excessively drilled her and looked so hateful at her during the whole session, CBS can go to hell!

[brianbwb-2009]

"Stop pretending to be stupid like you didn''''t know this." Posted by txgrouch2007

Tex, there is a hope. You may not be getting this in the US, but countries around the world are banning Chinese foodstuffs, and animal feed because of a chemical called melamine, used to fake a high protein content, but causes severe kidney damage when consumed, hundreds of babies have dies, thousands are in hospitals, the official in charge of food safety inspection has been convicted and sentenced to death.

Meanwhile everything containing milk, eggs, egg powder, even potato flour is being pulled from store shelves around the world, even companies like Nestle are affected.

Countries are learning that cheap isn''t cheap when lawsuits and lost sales are destroying their profits, so I think that soon we will see a serious slowdown in business investment, even a repatriation of businesses, until China gets it together, which won''t happen overnight.

[ghostforce1]

When did China become a "poor country"? I guess I missed that one.

[brianbwb-2009]

To all of the posters on this thread who are more concerned with maintaining a false image of yourselves, and only to yourselves, than you are with the harm being done in our country''s name to innocent people around the world, rest assured that the false image is only believed by you.

Publicizing such practices force companies to clean up their act, repatriate, or close, which helps more people than it harms.

[txgrouch2007]

If you knew that a foreign country was dumping toxic waste into your surroundings,
Posted by brianbwb at 06:21 PM : Nov 06, 2008

Hello? Are you blaming the USA for what the CROOKS IN CHINA are doing with stuff WE THREW AWAY or EXPECTED IT TO BE RECYCLED???

You''re being pretty inconsistent with your attitude about China. When you''re buying cheap stuff from them, you look the other way about how it was made.

Then when someone SHOVES YOUR FACE IN IT, you blame Bush!!!

You need to get a grip on reality.

[gmaka]

I just can''t believe that such a wonderful country like China with its fine economic and political system that treats its citizens with such respect would react in such a way with the 60 Minutes crew. The CBS people must have been doing something wrong for such a reaction. When this becomes standard procedure in the "new" USA under our newly elected president, I''m sure the CBS people will then understand and realize they should not have been there in the first place. It''s coming to America, you fools. Bets of all, it happened with the media''s help and an ignorant electorate who actually voted for "change you can believe in".

[txgrouch2007]

a chemical called melamine, used to fake a high protein content, but causes severe kidney damage when consumed, hundreds of babies have dies, thousands are in hospitals, the official in charge of food safety inspection has been convicted and sentenced to death.
Posted by brianbwb at 06:30 PM : Nov 06, 2008

Yes, we heard. We also know that some Chinese drug makers are putting TABLE SALT in to some medicines to "fake" the standard potency test that gets thrown off by abnormal salt levels.

THIS IS HOW YOU''RE GETTING THESE CHEAP PRICES, folks.

IS IT WORTH IT???????

Or is it time to PUNISH CHINA WITH TARIFFS against their products???

If you won''t take action, DON''T COMPLAIN.

[txgrouch2007]

When did China become a "poor country"? I guess I missed that one.
Posted by Ghostforce1 at 06:30 PM : Nov 06, 2008

The government is rich. The people are poor, dirt poor. Poor like you couldn''t understand how poor.

That''s socialism.