ID :
184573
Thu, 05/26/2011 - 11:44
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Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/184573
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USFK to test soil at Camp Carroll next week in Agent Orange probe
(2nd LD) SEOUL, May 26 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. military in South Korea will use ground-penetrating radar devices next week for tests of soil on one of its bases in the South where large amounts of the toxic chemical Agent Orange were said to have been illegally buried in the 1970s, the chief investigator in the claims said Thursday.
South Korea and the U.S. launched a joint probe last week following the allegations by American veterans that U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) buried the dangerous chemical near a heliport inside Camp Carroll in 1978.
"As early as next week, we will have ground-penetrating radars that we can put over the location, and we will be able to see anything else buried there," the lead investigator, Eighth U.S. Army commander Lt. Gen. John D. Johnson, told a local radio station.
"And then if there is any indication of a threat to human health and there will be a test of soil," Johnson said.
Early this week, the USFK said a large number of drums containing pesticides, herbicides and solvents were buried in 1978 at Camp Carroll in Chilgok, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, but they were removed during the following two years.
The USFK also said its review of military records showed that "trace amounts" of dioxin were found in 2004 ground testing at the site, but the findings have not "directly" indicated that Agent Orange was buried at Camp Carroll.
Amid the escalating controversy, Gangwon National University professor Kim Man-gu said Thursday that he conducted an analysis of soil and underground water at Camp Carroll eight years ago at the request of a local contractor and was surprised to find the camp's underground water contained carcinogenic substance over 30 times larger than normal.
Kim said he carried out the research in May 2003 at the request of Samsung C&T Corp.
The Environment Ministry, however, said underground water around Camp Carroll did not violate the country's drinking water quality standards according to tests conducted between 2008 and 2009.
The toxic substance trichloroethylene was detected below 0.03mg/L only in samples taken from one underground water source out of four subject to the examinations, according to the ministry.
The underground water spring that tested positive for the carcinogenic chemical is used as a source of potable water, while three others are used for industrial purposes, according to the ministry.
Trichloroethylene is used as a solvent for cleaning metal parts and carpets.
Agent Orange, a powerful toxic herbicide that was widely used in the Vietnam War, is suspected of causing serious health problems, including cancer and genetic damage in some people exposed to it and birth defects in their offspring. The defoliant was contaminated by dioxin, a highly toxic substance.
Environmental contamination at U.S. bases has been a source of friction between South Korea and the U.S. in the past.
While senior U.S. officials in South Korea, including USFK commander Gen. Walter Sharp, have pledged a "swift and transparent" probe into the allegations, impatience among South Koreans is growing because the USFK has failed to determine why the chemicals were buried or where they were moved to.
"I don't have a complete answer yet," Johnson said, when asked about whether the chemicals were relocated to inside South Korea or moved abroad.
Johnson acknowledged that the U.S. military had moved Agent Orange in Vietnam to a "special island" for disposal.
Some 28,500 American service members are currently stationed in the country, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. About 3,800 people work at Camp Carroll, and 900 U.S. soldiers live there, according to USFK officials.
Adding to the growing public anxiety over Camp Carroll, new allegations by a U.S. veteran emerged early this week that the USFK dumped hundreds of gallons of chemicals at a former U.S. military base in Bucheon, west of Seoul.
Retired Master Sgt. Ray Bows wrote comments on a Web site for ex-U.S. soldiers, called "Korean War Project," that the USFK buried the chemicals between 1963 and 1964 at Camp Mercer, which was returned to South Korea in 1993 and is now used by the South's engineering corps.
A team of South Korean officials and environmental experts were sent to the former U.S. military base on Wednesday, and they conducted an on-site inspection at the base, officials at Seoul's defense ministry said.
On Thursday, the ministry said it will soon ask the USFK to provide environmental records on Camp Mercer.
Kim Jung-chul, head of the ministry's Military Installation Planning Bureau, told reporters that his ministry will also set up a joint team of investigators with the Environment Ministry, the Army and civic groups to verify the claims surrounding Camp Mercer.
"If we find any signs of pollutant contamination on the base, we will immediately dig up the area," Kim said.
So far, no records backing the fresh allegations have been found, he added.
South Korea and the U.S. launched a joint probe last week following the allegations by American veterans that U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) buried the dangerous chemical near a heliport inside Camp Carroll in 1978.
"As early as next week, we will have ground-penetrating radars that we can put over the location, and we will be able to see anything else buried there," the lead investigator, Eighth U.S. Army commander Lt. Gen. John D. Johnson, told a local radio station.
"And then if there is any indication of a threat to human health and there will be a test of soil," Johnson said.
Early this week, the USFK said a large number of drums containing pesticides, herbicides and solvents were buried in 1978 at Camp Carroll in Chilgok, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, but they were removed during the following two years.
The USFK also said its review of military records showed that "trace amounts" of dioxin were found in 2004 ground testing at the site, but the findings have not "directly" indicated that Agent Orange was buried at Camp Carroll.
Amid the escalating controversy, Gangwon National University professor Kim Man-gu said Thursday that he conducted an analysis of soil and underground water at Camp Carroll eight years ago at the request of a local contractor and was surprised to find the camp's underground water contained carcinogenic substance over 30 times larger than normal.
Kim said he carried out the research in May 2003 at the request of Samsung C&T Corp.
The Environment Ministry, however, said underground water around Camp Carroll did not violate the country's drinking water quality standards according to tests conducted between 2008 and 2009.
The toxic substance trichloroethylene was detected below 0.03mg/L only in samples taken from one underground water source out of four subject to the examinations, according to the ministry.
The underground water spring that tested positive for the carcinogenic chemical is used as a source of potable water, while three others are used for industrial purposes, according to the ministry.
Trichloroethylene is used as a solvent for cleaning metal parts and carpets.
Agent Orange, a powerful toxic herbicide that was widely used in the Vietnam War, is suspected of causing serious health problems, including cancer and genetic damage in some people exposed to it and birth defects in their offspring. The defoliant was contaminated by dioxin, a highly toxic substance.
Environmental contamination at U.S. bases has been a source of friction between South Korea and the U.S. in the past.
While senior U.S. officials in South Korea, including USFK commander Gen. Walter Sharp, have pledged a "swift and transparent" probe into the allegations, impatience among South Koreans is growing because the USFK has failed to determine why the chemicals were buried or where they were moved to.
"I don't have a complete answer yet," Johnson said, when asked about whether the chemicals were relocated to inside South Korea or moved abroad.
Johnson acknowledged that the U.S. military had moved Agent Orange in Vietnam to a "special island" for disposal.
Some 28,500 American service members are currently stationed in the country, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. About 3,800 people work at Camp Carroll, and 900 U.S. soldiers live there, according to USFK officials.
Adding to the growing public anxiety over Camp Carroll, new allegations by a U.S. veteran emerged early this week that the USFK dumped hundreds of gallons of chemicals at a former U.S. military base in Bucheon, west of Seoul.
Retired Master Sgt. Ray Bows wrote comments on a Web site for ex-U.S. soldiers, called "Korean War Project," that the USFK buried the chemicals between 1963 and 1964 at Camp Mercer, which was returned to South Korea in 1993 and is now used by the South's engineering corps.
A team of South Korean officials and environmental experts were sent to the former U.S. military base on Wednesday, and they conducted an on-site inspection at the base, officials at Seoul's defense ministry said.
On Thursday, the ministry said it will soon ask the USFK to provide environmental records on Camp Mercer.
Kim Jung-chul, head of the ministry's Military Installation Planning Bureau, told reporters that his ministry will also set up a joint team of investigators with the Environment Ministry, the Army and civic groups to verify the claims surrounding Camp Mercer.
"If we find any signs of pollutant contamination on the base, we will immediately dig up the area," Kim said.
So far, no records backing the fresh allegations have been found, he added.
