Decades after the end of conflict between Vietnam and the U.S., teams from the two countries are still working to restore soil contaminated by toxic chemicals employed by the American military during the war. On October 18, the teams announced substantial progress on one such effort, the Environmental Remediation of Dioxin Contamination at Danang Airport Project. The project has successfully treated over 94,000 cubic meters of contaminated soil, eliminating the health risks from dioxin exposure, and is expected to be completed by early next year. Major General and Deputy Head Commander of Air Defenses, Bui Anh Chung, announced the update at a working visit with a delegation of US politicians, led by Ted Yoho, chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific within the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, in Danang on October 18. Chung said the project, which was launched in 2012, contributes to the Vietnam-U.S. bilateral relationship and will result in a cleaner, safer environment for the people of Danang. Chung noted that almost 63 provinces and cities in Vi?t Nam were contaminated with landmines and bombs during the American War—affecting 61,300 sq.km, 18.22% of the country’s area, all told. He said it was estimated that Vietnam would spend decades cleaning land from Unexploded Ordnance (UXOs) and toxic chemicals used during the war. Chung also said that the chemically contaminated areas were not just former military airbases (Danang, Phu Cat, Bien Hoa), but also mountainous areas like A So commune in A Luoi District in Thua Thien Hue and Sa Thay district in the Central Highlands Kon Tum Province. The Major General also expressed appreciation for the support and cooperation from partners including the US Agency of International Development (USAID), U.S. Pacific Command, Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF), Golden West Humanitarian Foundation and others. He said the airport dioxin remediation project had received fund of more than $100 million, of which $2.6 million from Vietnam Government. Chung also said Vietnam, in co-operation with the U.S., had repatriated 1,000 boxes containing remains of the US soldiers missing in action (MIA), of which 700 were identified with matching DNA, over the last 40 years. He said Vietnam, in co-operation with Laos and Cambodia, had accompanied Vietnamese witnesses—veterans of the conflict—to conduct 67 searches for the remains of US soldiers missing-in-action in Laos and Cambodia. During the working visit, Chung also asked the US to continue supporting Vietnam with non-refundable Official Development Assistance (ODA) in cleaning dioxin contaminated areas in the former airbases of Bien Hoa in Dong Nai Province and Phu Cat in Binh Dinh Province. The assistance has also been used to clear UXO contaminated areas and support the victims of landmines and bombs. In August, representatives from the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense, Air Defense-Air Force Command and the US Agency of International Development (USAID) formally signed an agreement to return over 12.7ha of dioxin remediated land at the Danang International Airport to the control of the Ministry of Transport, after the project’s teams had been working on the land for years. The project, which completed its first phase in May, has handed over a 5.97ha area for the development of runways and parking lots at the airport in preparation for the 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Summit in Danang on November 5-11. As planned, the project will return more than 16ha in the first quarter next year for the airport expansion project. Danang’s former U.S. air base is considered a dioxin hot spot. Other dioxin-polluted spots include Biên Hoà in the southwestern province of Dong Nai and Phu Cat Airport in Binh Dinh Province. (Vietnam News Oct 18)
