US rubber company disputes Liberia pollution study

[October 30, 2009]  MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) -- An American-owned rubber company is disputing claims by the Liberian government that the company's waste products are polluting creeks.

The Liberian government says a three-month investigation found high levels of orthophosphate being released into the water.

But Firestone said in a statement released late Thursday that it has conducted its own extensive testing of discharge water and found it was not harmful to human health.

The government's report appears silent on whether the company will pay any fines.

Firestone signed a 99-year concession agreement with the Liberian government in the 1920s to grow and export rubber in the West African nation.

[Associated Press]

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