Agent Orange clean-up, 37 years on

Stapleton, John. Weekend Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 04 Aug 2012: 11.

Abstract

The historic $US450 million ($429m) amelioration effort to destroy the chemicals remaining in the environment and treat those suffering from disabilities begins on Thursday at Vietnam's worst affected site -- the former US military base and now bustling airport of Da Nang. [...]2008, when the heaviest concentrations of dioxin at the airport were concreted over and advisory notices issued to the community, people were swimming and fishing in a poisoned lake adjoining the airport.

Full Text

VIETNAMESE rejoiced this week at the announcement that the lingering impacts of the infamous herbicide Agent Orange are going to be addressed, 37 years after the end of the war.

Until 2008, when the heaviest concentrations of dioxin at the airport were concreted over and advisory notices issued to the community, people were swimming and fishing in a poisoned lake adjoining the airport.

The painful story of neglect and obfuscation surrounding the impacts of the herbicide begins in 1961. As part of its military operations in that year the US government ran its first experiments destroying forests and crops. Over the next decade more than 43 million litres of Agent Orange was sprayed at up to 50 times the manufacturer's recommended levels across 24 per cent of southern Vietnam, including thousands of villages.

This week marks the first practical effort by the US and Vietnamese governments, along with private groups including the Ford and Aspen Institute, to address the problem.

The process will involve the digging up of 77,400 cubic metres of soil at the airport, which will be heated to 300C and repeatedly tested until dioxin levels are at zero -- and then be re-interred.

The historic event owes much to the efforts of one man, Charles Bailey.

His arrival in Hanoi as head of the Ford Foundation's regional operations in 1997 and his personal shock at the ignorance and lack of action over Agent Orange marked the turning point from hand-wringing to this week's ground-breaking efforts. Surveys funded by the institute found that, although extensive land areas had been sprayed, none of the chemical remained. Agent Orange breaks down within days or weeks.

The problem arises with what Dr Bailey calls a "manufacturing defect", the existence of a chemical dioxin associated with the herbicide. Manufacturers didn't realise if Agent Orange wasn't "cooked" at an exact temperature the unintended consequence was a chemical that does not exist in nature and is one of themost poisonous substances ever created.

Seven to eight parts per trillion -- that is seven to eight molecules in an Olympic-sized swimming pool -- is believed to be enough to cause harm.

"If Agent Orange was just a herbicide it would have destroyed the vegetation, but there would not have been the direct and lingering impacts on US and Vietnamese soldiers," Dr Bailey said this week.

"Those affected, often living around former American military bases, have shorter life spans and a greater chance of their children having birth defects.

"Dioxin wasn't invented, it wasn't wanted, it was an accidental contaminant."

After investigation of the former US military bases, studies identified 28 hotspots across Vietnam, all of them sites where the chemical had been mixed before being loaded on to cargo planes for aerial spraying.

The three most severely affected centres are Da Nang, Bien Hoa, east of Ho Chi Minh, and the coastal city of Qui Nhon, which are all heavily populated.

Dr Bailey says, unlike many vaguely-focused international projects, Agent Orange is a humanitarian story with a beginning, middle and end.

"For congress, $US450 million is virtually a budgetary rounding figure," he says. "I was taught as a child to clean up my own mess. We did not intend to create this problem, but we have a responsibility as a nation to fix it."

Credit: JOHN STAPLETON

Original copy:

John Stapleton

Americans have been astonished by this week’s announcement that the
lingering impacts of the infamous herbicide Agent Orange are only now
to be addressed, 37 years after the end of the Vietnam War.
The historic $450 million amelioration efforts to destroy the
chemicals remaining in the environment and treat those suffering from
disabilities begins on Thursday of this week
at Vietnam’s worst affected site – the former American military base
and now bustling airport of Da Nang.
Until 2008, when the heaviest concentrations of dioxin at the airport
were concreted over and advisory notices issued to the community,
people were swimming and fishing in a poisoned lake adjoining the
airport.
The painful story of neglect and obfuscation surrounding the impacts
of the herbicide Agent Orange begins in 1961. As part of its military
operations, in that year the US government ran its first experiments
destroying forests and crops. Over the next decade more than 43
million litres of Agent Orange was sprayed at up to 50 times the
manufacturer’s recommended levels across 24 percent of southern
Vietnam, including across thousands of villages.
This week marks the first effort by the American and Vietnamese
governments, along with private groups including the Ford and Aspen
Foundations, to address the problem.
The triumph to be seen at the airport this week involves the digging
up of 77,400 cubic metres of soil which will then be heated to a
temperature of 300 degrees centigrade and repeatedly tested until
dioxin levels are at zero and then re-interred.
The historic event owes much to the efforts of one man, the
distinguished Dr Charles Bailey. His arrival in Hanoi as head of the
Ford Foundations regional operations in 1997 and his personal shock at
the ignorance and lack of action over Agent Orange marked the turning
point from hand wringing this week’s ground breaking efforts.
Surveys funded by the Ford Foundation and the Aspen Institute found that although extensive land
areas had been sprayed, none of the chemical remained. Agent Orange
breaks down within a matter of days or weeks.
The problem arises with what Dr Bailey calls a “manufacturing defect”,
the existence of a chemical known dioxin associated with the
herbicide. Manufacturers did not realize that if the Agent Orange was
not “cooked” at an exact temperature, the unintended consequence was a
chemical which does not exist in nature and is one of the most
poisonous substances ever created.
The maximum allowed level for dioxin in human blood is 7-8 parts per trillion, i.e. equivalent to 7-8 molecules of water in an Olympic sized swimming pool.
“If Agent Orange was just a herbicide, it would have destroyed the
vegetation but there wouldn’t have been the direct and lingering
impacts on US and Vietnamese soldiers. Those affected, often living
around former American military bases, have shorter life spans and a
greater chance of their children having birth defects.
“Dioxin wasn’t invented, it wasn’t wanted, it was an accidental contaminant.”
After investigation of the 2,735 former American military basis
studies identified 28 hotspots across Vietnam, all of them sites where
the chemical had been mixed before being loaded onto cargo planes for
aerial spraying.
The three most severely affected centres are Da Nang, Bien Hoa east of
Ho Chi Minh and the coastal city of Qui Nhon, all heavily populated.
Dr Berrie says unlike many vaguely focused international projects,
Agent Orange is a humanitarian story with a beginning, middle and end.
“For Congress $450 million is virtually a budgetary rounding figure,”
he says. “I was taught as a child to clean up my own mess. We did not
intend to create this problem but we have a responsibility as a nation
to fix it. To do so is good for America, Vietnam and the bilateral
relationship.”