PCB-contaminated waste from U.S. military bases in Japan will be moved from Japan to Wake Island in the central Pacific by May 18 until a final decision on how to dispose of the waste is made, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo said in a statement Saturday.
Wake Island is a possession outside the U.S. customs territory and about 3,700 km west of Hawaii. The island is used by the U.S. Army as a missile launch support facility.
The shipment of the waste contaminated with PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, to the island reflects efforts by the U.S. military to make its installations PCB-free worldwide, the embassy said.