The government of South Africa has impounded a container full of old electronics feared to be hazardous waste collected through a free electronics recycling program involving the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society and Allegheny County.

Sarah Westervelt, of the Seattle-based environmental watchdog Basel Action Network, yesterday said that South African officials have notified her that a shipment of electronics headed to a vendor known as Butterfly Imports of Johannesburg arrived on Saturday.

"They have stopped the consignment in Johannesburg and they will be inspecting it this week," said Ms. Westervelt.

Her organization last week issued a report claiming that EarthEcycle LLC, which collected more than 1 million pounds of old electronics through a number of area charities, ships hazardous waste to countries in Asia and Africa to be dumped in toxic heap piles.

Jeff Nixon, 43, a former Allegheny County employee who owns and operates the Tulsa-based EarthEcycle, yesterday declined to comment on the matter.