At the workshop
Nhan Dan Online – Several new sites contaminated with high levels of dioxins have been discovered in and surrounding Dong Nai province’s Bien Hoa Airbase, reflecting the large scale and complexity of dioxin contamination in the locality.
The information was announced at a workshop held in Hanoi this morning by the Office of the National Steering Committee for overcoming the consequences of toxic chemicals used by the US during the war in Vietnam (Office of National Steering Committee 33) and the United National Development Programme (UNDP).
According to recent studies conducted by the Office’s GEF/UNDP-funded Project ‘Environmental Remediation of Dioxin Contaminated Hotspots in Vietnam‘, the dioxin concentration in 16 of the airbase’s 28 surveyed lakes exceeds the acceptable level, with the highest concentration measuring at 8,000 ppt.
Some of the 110 samples of soil and sediment, collected from an average depth of 30cm, showed dioxin concentration levels above the allowed measure. These samples were taken mostly from drainage canals at the airbase, which overflow into the Dong Nai River. Luckily, dioxin has not yet been found in the samples taken from Dong Nai River.
Experts said that the dioxin contamination at the Bien Hoa Airbase is much higher than that found at Da Nang and Phu Cat Airbases, asking for immediate measures to protect local residents’ health.
Regarding the contaminated lakes inside the Bien Hoa Airbase, they stressed the need to inform the individuals who are using the lakes of their pollution status, while urging to stop cultivation of fish, waterfowl and poultry at these lakes.
Drastic actions must be taken to prevent the spread of dioxin from the airbase to Dong Nai River, they proposed.
Land-use recommendations for Bien Hoa Airbase were made at the workshop, including the planting of trees on the dioxin-contaminated sites.
The Office of National Steering Committee 33 will hand over their results to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) so that the ministry can complete a master plan for dioxin remediation as well as land-use plans at the Bien Hoa Airbase. These figures also serve as an important base for the environmental assessment, which will be conducted by the MoD and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
The Bien Hoa Airbase is currently one of three dioxin contamination hotspots in Vietnam. Some of the contaminated sites inside the airbase were previously used by the US army as a place to store herbicides.
VAN TOAN
Additional dioxin-contamintaed sites discovered at Bien Hoa Airbase Related image(s)
0 comments:
Post a Comment