Capital for a dioxin remediation project in Vietnam’s central city of Danang has reached $84 million, doubling the initial estimated figure for the first project on cleaning up dioxin residue left from the Vietnam War. The figure may become larger as the project is expected to last until 2016, said Joachim Parker, mission director of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). “The U.S. will ensure enough capital for the project,” Mr. Parker said at a field trip given for domestic and foreign reporters to the project site on Apr 24. The project titled Environmental Remediation of Dioxin Contamination at Danang Airport Project is jointly implemented by USAID and the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense. Its initial cost was estimated at $41 million, to be sourced from the non-refundable aid given by the U.S. government. Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment approved the environmental impact assessment in May 2012. The project was officially launched in August 2012, marking Washington’s first involvement in cleaning up dioxin residue left from the war. This project will help treat 29 hectares at Danang Airport, which used to be an airbase of the U.S. during the war, to ensure clean soil for economic purposes and erase risks of dioxin contamination for residents living around the site. Danang airport is one of the three locations in Vietnam, together with Phu Cat and Bien Hoa airports, that have the highest dioxin residues. Vietnam is estimated to have 4.8 million of people vulnerable to dioxin contamination. (Tien Phong – Pioneer Apr 25 p10)
