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    June 17, 2011

No Evidence of Chemical Threat at US Military Base in S. Korea

   Steve Herman
   South Korean technicians conduct a ground-penetrating radar survey of
   alleged burial of a highly toxic defoliant at Camp Carroll, a US army
   logistics base, southeast of Seoul, June 2, 2011
   Photo: AP
   South Korean technicians conduct a ground-penetrating radar survey of
   alleged burial of a highly toxic defoliant at Camp Carroll, a US army
   logistics base, southeast of Seoul, June 2, 2011

   U.S. officials say they are optimistic a joint investigation underway
   with the South Korean government will conclude that there are no
   present environmental dangers from the alleged burial, decades ago, of
   toxic chemicals on a American military base in the country.
   U.S. Ambassador Kathleen Stephens told reporters in Seoul on Friday
   potential health concerns to South Koreans, American military personnel
   and their dependents prompted a quick and full investigation.
   "We've got to figure out what happened," she said. "These are charges
   that date from over 30 years ago. But I think we've made some progress
   in doing that. And this joint investigation is going along and will
   continue until we feel that we've addressed the issue to the
   satisfaction of all concerned."
   Lee Won-seok, a researcher at South Korea's National Institute of
   Environmental Research, says there is nothing alarming from preliminary
   findings near Camp Carroll, a U.S. military base covering 40 hectares,
   in the southeastern part of the country.
   Lee says the levels of dioxin detected at three locations two
   kilometers from the U.S. facility are too minute to be hazardous to
   humans.
   South Korean and U.S. officials also say there is no evidence, at this
   stage, that the dioxin came from the defoliant Agent Orange. Scientists
   say they are continuing to evaluate more water samples. Results of
   remaining inspections are expected to be released next month.
   Dioxin is a compound of the chemical, previously used to clear jungles
   during the Vietnam War and along the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
   An investigation was quickly launched after three U.S. military
   veterans told a television station in the U.S. state of Arizona that
   they were ordered to bury Agent Orange at the Army camp in 1978.
   U.S. military records indicate barrels of chemicals and soil were
   removed from the bases in 1979 and 1980, but American officials say the
   documents do not reveal if the chemicals removed included Agent Orange.
   There have been concerns that the revelations of alleged dumping of
   toxic chemicals could re-ignite anti-American sentiments in South
   Korea. The United States has more than 28,000 military personnel
   stationed in the country.