The US
sprayed millions of gallons of Agent Orange on the jungles of Vietnam during
its war there, creating long-term adverse health effects. Decades later, the
former enemies are cooperating to clean up the chemical.
The United
States began helping Vietnam clean up the toxic chemical defoliant Agent Orange
for the first time on Thursday, nearly 40 years after the end of Washington's
bloody war with the Southeast Asian communist nation.
The US and
Vietnam plan to decontaminate some 73,000 cubic meters (2.5 million cubic feet)
of soil surrounding the Da Nang airport in the central part of the country.
American forces stored and loaded Agent Orange onto planes at Da Nang during
the war, which ended in 1975. Between 1,000,000 and 2,500,000 Vietnamese died
in the war and over 58,000 Americans.
"We
are both moving earth and taking the first steps to bury the legacies of our
past," US Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear said at a ceremony at Da Nang
airport on Thursday. "I look forward to even more successes to
follow."
Washington
sprayed some 45.5 million liters (12 million gallons) of the defoliant during
the Vietnam War in "Operation Ranch Hand," a campaign to remove the
jungle canopy and expose North Vietnamese forces and their supply lines to
attack.
Agent
Orange contains the chemical dioxin, which is known to cause cancer and
respiratory problems. The Vietnamese government claims that up to four million
of its citizens suffer from diseases related to Agent Orange. US soldiers were
also affected by the chemical. Washington, for its part, maintains that the
link between dioxin exposure and disease is "uncertain."
 |
| The Vietnamese government estimates that millions still suffer from diseases related to Agent Orange |
The two
former enemies are using technology that heats the contaminated soil at Da Nang
to high temperatures, thereby breaking down the dioxin and rendering it into
harmless compounds. According to the US embassy, the soil around Da Nang should
be safe again by 2016.
No
compensation for victims
Although
the US has begun to assist in efforts to clean up Agent Orange in Vietnam, it
still has not committed any money to helping the victims of the chemical.
According to Vietnamese authorities, children are still being born with
deformities and health defects three generations after exposure.
"They
have not given any money to help victims of dioxin improve their health,"
said Mai The Chinh, head of the Propaganda Board of the Association for Victims
of Agent Orange/Dioxin. "The life of Agent Orange victims is very
difficult now."
The US and
Vietnam are also considering a clean up at Bien Hoa, in the southern province
of Dong Nai. The airport there is actually more contaminated than Da Nang,
according to the Ho Chi Minh City Law newspaper. Phu Cat airport in the central
province of Binh Dinh is another heavily contaminated area.
The cleanup
is a joint project between Vietnam's Defense Ministry and the US Agency for
International Development. Work began last year with the clearance of
unexploded ordinance from the area surrounding Da Nang.
slk/tj (AFP, Reuters, dpa)
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