U.S. Offers $34M to Clear Agent Orange at Danang Airport

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has pledged to fund $34 million to rid Vietnam’s central airport of Danang of Agent Orange. The two-year project is aimed to ensure that plants can again grow in contaminated land, the state-run Vietnam News Agency said. In the past three years, the USAID has approved to spend $21 million to deal with dioxin contamination in Vietnam including $2 million for improving the environment in Danang, the city’s Department of Foreign Affairs said. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. army sprayed about 80 million liters of defoliants including the highly toxic Agent Orange over the country’s forests, the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said. Danang airport together with Bien Hoa and Phu Cat airports in the southern provinces of Dong Nai and Binh Dinh, respectively are home to the highest dioxin concentrations in Vietnam. Agent Orange was once stored in Danang Airport for defoliation missions during the war. Spillage caused contamination to surrounding environment. Currently, dioxin levels at the airport are 400 times higher than internationally accepted levels. The affected zone has been sealed off from the public. (VNS Nov 19)