US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius (R) shakes
hands with Vietnam's Deputy Defense Minister Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh as they
attend a ceremony marking the start of the clean-up of dioxin contaminated-soil
in central Danang city on October 18, 2016
Vietnam
and the United States on Tuesday launched the second phase of a dioxin clean-up
in the central city of Da Nang, where millions of litres of Agent Orange were
stored during the war between the former enemies.
The US
sprayed the defoliant over large swathes of southern jungle during the Vietnam
War to flush out Viet Cong guerrillas, and Vietnamese victims' groups have long
blamed the toxic residue for deformities and disease.
Though
Washington has disputed the link between dioxin exposure and bad health, the US
government has committed to help clean up toxic land in the communist nation.
The
countries, whose relations have warmed in recent years, on Tuesday began
treating 45,000 cubic metres of soil contaminated with dioxin at Danang
Airport, a task expected to be finished by mid-2017.
"I
am encouraged by how this project continues to be a symbol of our honesty about
the past, dealing with what remains and turning an issue of contention into one
of collaboration," US ambassador Ted Osius said at the scene, according to
a statement.
The first
phase of the clean-up, which also treated 45,000 cubic metres, was completed in
May.
"The
long-term impact of the project will be the elimination of potential health
risks associated with dioxin exposure from the site," the US embassy
statement said.
Osius and
Vietnam's Vice Minister of National Defence Nguyen Chi Vinh switched on a
thermal treatment system Tuesday at a ceremony in Da Nang, where they were
photographed before a giant mound of covered earth.
The
thermal technology heats the contaminated soil to temperatures high enough to
break down dioxin into harmless compounds.
Da Nang
Airbase was a key site in the defoliant programme, and much of the 80 million
litres of Agent Orange used during "Operation Ranch Hand" was mixed,
stored and loaded onto planes there.
The
airbase is considered a "dioxin hotspot", where concentrations of
toxic contaminants from Agent Orange are well above the globally-accepted
maximum standard.
Victims
groups say rates of cancer, birth deformities and other dioxin-related diseases
are higher than the national average around the site.
The
government says up to three million Vietnamese were exposed to Agent Orange,
and at least 150,000 children were born with birth defects as a result.
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