Traces of defoliant found at U.S. military camp in S. Korea

A modest amount of a defoliant component has been detected in and around a U.S. military camp in South Korea where several retired American soldiers said they dumped drums of the toxic chemical decades ago, a joint investigation team said Friday. The team of local and U.S. specialists has measured levels of potential toxic chemical contamination in soil and groundwater in and around Camp Carroll in Chilgok, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, after three United States Forces Korea (USFK) veterans revealed in May that they helped bury hundreds of drums containing chemicals presumed to be the cancer-causing defoliant Agent Orange in 1978. This marks the team's first extraction of a defoliant component from Camp Carroll's groundwater, which shows that allegations of the defoliant burial may be true. The result, if confirmed to be accurate through further study, could deal a blow to the U.S. military stationed in South Korea, which has largely remained mum about its responsibility regarding the allegations. In an interim report of the investigation, the team said local experts have detected about 0.161 micrograms per liter of 2,4,5-T, a key component of Agent Orange, from five groundwater wells in the military base. But the component was not found in U.S. specialists' analysis of identical test spots, according to the joint team. The detected level, however, remains modest, reaching only one-fiftieth of what the World Health Organization permits for drinkable water, the team noted. Traces of 2,4,-D, another key component of the defoliant, were not found in both sides' examinations, the team added. The investigation also found an excessive level of VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, which could pose a risk to human health. The recorded level of VOCs found in water near the camp exceeded 900 times the guideline for drinking water, the team said. The joint team said they will take action to stop residents in nearby areas from drinking the water and will further study the contamination in order to locate its exact source. The team is also scheduled to release by early October the result of their investigation into potential soil contamination inside the U.S. camp. Agent Orange is a toxic chemical that was widely used on trees and plants during wars to make all their leaves fall off. The cancer-causing chemical was reported to have been sprayed in the 1960s around the Demilitarized Zone to thwart North Korean infiltrations. The latest controversy is part of a series of accusations regarding environmental degradation raised against the U.S. forces stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice. In the news conference to announce the interim probe results, the U.S. military maintained its previous stance of neither confirming nor denying the suspected burial. Colonel Joseph Birchmeier, who led the U.S. investigators, said they found barrels of chemical waste were removed from Camp Carroll and sent to Utah for processing in 1981. He, however, said that there was no evidence showing that Agent Orange was among the chemicals.