Pharmaceutical Industry Ocean Dumping and Groundwater Contamination

Section 936 of the Internal Revenue Code (1976) offered tax exemptions to U.S. companies operating in Puerto Rico, creating a pharmaceutical gold rush. Companies including Merck, Pfizer, Schering, Upjohn, Abbott, Bristol, and Squibb established massive manufacturing operations on the island. The tax break amounted to $70,788 per employee by 1987.

Starting in January 1972, the EPA established the Puerto Rico Dumpsite (PRD), a 500-kilometer ocean waste zone 42 miles north of Arecibo, above the Puerto Rico Trench in 6,000 meters of water. The site was pushed for by Merck Sharp & Dohme Química. Between 1973 and 1978, over 387,000 metric tons of pharmaceutical waste—equivalent to the weight of 880 Boeing 747s—were dumped at the PRD. Two barges, Liquid Waste 1 and Whitewater II, left Arecibo daily.

On land, the contamination was worse. Barceloneta municipality, which contained more than 60% of Puerto Rico's groundwater supply, was dominated by pharmaceutical plants. Companies used deep injection wells, putting untreated liquid waste directly into sinkholes, or spreading it via sprinklers. The porous limestone karst aquifers cannot filter out toxins. Merck dumped liquid waste directly into the Manatí River. Upjohn's underground storage tank leaked carbon tetrachloride into groundwater. Pfizer's Barceloneta facility was contaminated with benzene and chlorobenzene.

In March 1983, USGS detected volatile organic compounds in public water supply wells in the Vega Alta aquifer. By 1987, 41% of drinking water supply wells in the northern karst aquifer had been closed due to contamination. Puerto Rico now has at least 19 contaminated Superfund sites, five partially attributed to pharmaceuticals. After 70 pharmaceutical workers in Manatí were exposed to hazardous chemicals, Warner Chilcott was fined only $2,275.