negotiations, The Royal Gazette has learned.

And newly installed Environment Minister Irving Pearman said he will be prepared to comment on the specifics of these meetings once he has something more concrete to say.

The issue has been the subject of much discussion over the last few months as Government tries to decide just what to do with 165 containers of the dangerous dust.

Mr. Pearman declined to give any details of the talks when The Royal Gazette contacted him on Friday.

Government has taken advice from a US law firm which made it clear that US courts will still hold Bermuda liable for any health fallout caused by asbestos buried in American landfills.

Government retained the Washington D.C. firm of Garvey, Schubert and Barer, which specialises in environmental law, in the wake of a proposal from Michael Stowe of International Strategic Management, who claimed that he could get rid of nearly 165 containers of asbestos in a Mississippi landfill without risk of future lawsuits.

Mr. Stowe's proposal came in around the time of international uproar over Government's plans to dump the containers in the deep ocean off the Island.