Vietnam clears bombs ahead of US-funded Agent Orange clean-up

Jun 17, 2011, 8:03 GMT

Hanoi - Vietnam has started to clear unexploded ordnance from the war with the United States in the first step of a project funded by Washington to clean up land contaminated with Agent Orange near Da Nang airport, the US Embassy said Friday.

The move was 'a key first step' in the project co-run by the Vietnamese Defence Ministry and the US Agency for International Development to clean 29 hectares of soil, the embassy said in a statement.

Agent Orange was a defoliant containing toxic dioxin, widely used by US forces during the Vietnam War. The airport, near the coast of central Vietnam, is one of three dioxin hot spots in the country.

Since 2007, the US has provided nearly 42 million dollars to fund environmental clean-up and health projects related to Agent Orange contamination in the country, as well as 37 million dollars since 1989 to clear unexploded ordnance.

Large numbers of Vietnamese were exposed to the defoliant when US forces sprayed it on jungles to clear foliage providing sanctuary to communist troops.

Scientists say that while it is difficult to link any specific case to Agent Orange, dioxin is associated with a number of diseases, including some cancers and respiratory illnesses.

Vietnam claims that up to 4 million of its citizens suffer from Agent Orange-related diseases.

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