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Wartime airbase dioxin to be cleaned up
Viet Nam News - December 19, 2011
Phu Cat airbase was used to launch herbicide spraying missions during the American War, making it one of three contaminated hotspots along with the airports at Bien Hoa and Da Nang.
The landfill site is part of a US$5 million project launched in July 2010 and funded by the United Nations Development Programme and the Global Environment Facility, helping Viet Nam to remediate dioxin contamination at the three hotspots while minimising disruption to the ecosystem and health risks for local residents.
Pratibha Mehta, UN resident co-ordinator in Viet Nam, said the country had made significant efforts to overcome the dioxin legacy, using its own resources and drawing support from international partners.
However, "the scale of the funding required and technical knowledge cannot be addressed solely by the Government or a single donor," she said. "And so it is vital that international assistance is stepped up even further."
The project at Phu Cat airbase will be carried out in two phases. The first phase, expected to be completed in the first half of 2012, focuses on containment and isolating the toxic soil and sediment in the landfill, thus reducing the exposure risk and eliminating risks to people and wildlife.
The second phase will be to permanently destroy the dioxin, but funding for this second phase has not been secured. "This will enable us to complete destroy the dioxin, instead of having to monitor and maintain the landfill for decades or possible centuries," Mehta said.
According to Nguyen My Hang, project manager for the UNDP/GEF dioxin remediation project, the landfill area at Phu Cat airport was situated a long way from residential areas and its construction would follow national regulations and international standards, while reducing cross contamination and ensuring strict health protection.
Associate Professor Le Ke Son, deputy director general of the Viet Nam Environment Administration and Director General of the National Steering Committee 33, said lessons learnt from this project would be applied to dioxin remediation at Bien Hoa airbase and other contaminated areas.
"This component is not big, but it carries huge significance," Son said. "When this project is completed, all specified dioxin contaminated sites in Phu Cat airbase will be removed from the list of dioxin contaminated hotspots in Viet Nam."
Along with dioxin remediation at Phu Cat airbase, dioxin contaminated sites in Da Nang will also be remediated before 2016 using thermal desorption technology with funding from the US Government.
For Bien Hoa airport, a master remediation plan is expected to be completed and approved by the Prime Minister in 2012. Officials estimate that at least 200,000 cubic metres of contaminated soil still remain at these three hotspots.
"All of the dioxin contaminated spots in Viet Nam have been left for too long and there are no reasons for us to wait longer," Son said.
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