April 02, 1999
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| April 02, 1999 | atimes.com | |
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| Southeast Asia U.S. military bases leave a toxic legacy WASHINGTON - The U.S. military is long gone from itsbases in the Philippines but a toxic legacy of polluted water,soil and air is still very much in evidence, says a Philippines-based environmental organization. The environmentalists say that toxic contamination threatensthe health of people living near old U.S. facilities - Clark AirForce Base and the Subic Bay Naval Base - which were handed backto the Philippine government in 1991. They now operate asbusiness areas and free trade zones, with allied touristattractions. It would cost about $1 billion to clean up the toxicmess, according to Christina Leano and Amy Toledo, two researcherswith the People's Task Force for Bases Clean Up. ''The United States is evading its responsibility for thepublic health damage and threats it has left in the formerbases,'' they declared. ''U.S. negligence threatens the lives andthe environment of the communities surrounding these facilities." Various reports since 1991 by the World Health Organisation andthe U.S. General Accounting Office found unsafe levels of lead,mercury and pesticides in the soil and ground water near thebases. Environmental surveys, conducted in 1997 by the U.S. consultingfirm Weston International at the request of the Philippinegovernment, reported similar findings of toxic contamination. Several different kinds of solvents, including benzene andlindane, were found in soil and groundwater in the bases, accordingto Weston. In a new report by the Canada-based International Institute forthe Concern of Public Health and the People's Task Force, severalcommunities around Clark Air Force Base were found to have veryhigh rates of respiratory, kidney, urinary, nervous and femalereproductive health problems. Skin ailments and birth defects were also recorded. Drinking-water wells reportedly have been contaminated by wastefrom the base and some people have taken barrels once used to holdsolvents and pesticides from the bases and now use them to storewater and other items. ''The highest prevalence of these problems occurred incommunities closest to or on the base and highly contaminatedsites,'' says Leano. ''The Philippines has neither the financialnor the technical capacities to deal with the problem." The billion-dollar price tage is ''something Filipinos cannotafford to consider, especially with the current economic crisis inthe region,'' says Leano. Last year, former Philippine President Fidel Ramos brought upthe question of cleaning up the bases with U.S. President BillClinton who in turn made a verbal agreement to set up a U.S. taskforce to address the contamination. But, according to Leano, no such U.S. organization has beencreated. ''We were never asked to do anything because of that meetingbetween Ramos and Clinton,'' Gary Vest, a spokesman onenvironmental affairs at the U.S. Department of Defense, told IPSin an interview last year. The Pentagon says that it has no legal authority or legalliability to do anything with regard to environmentalcontamination at former overseas U.S. bases that have already beenreturned to the host country, unless there was a plan negotiatedbefore the transfer. ''Nothing in international law or in any of the agreementsbetween the Philippine government and the U.S.'' gives rise to anyliability to do anything, said Vest. He added that the Department of Defense cannot spend money on a clean-up in the Philippines since it hasn't received permission fromCongress. ''Technically even if I wanted to do an environmentalsurvey at an overseas base, if I don't have any legal authority Ican't spend the tax-payers' money to do it,'' Vest said. The standards set by Congress to clean up domestic bases aremuch greater than requirements for bases overseas, according toJohn Lindsay-Poland, coordinator of Latin American and Caribbean campaigns at the California-based Fellowship of Reconciliation, a non-profit organization. ''While the United States has spent $102 million onoverseas base clean-ups during the last four years, this is smallchange compared to the 2.13 billion budgeted to clean up domesticbases for 1998,'' he says. After reports of environmental contamination of the former U.S.bases in the Philippines began to surface, local governmentofficials announced that they would provide potable water topeople surrounding Clark Air Force Base. Once this proved to be too expensive, they asked the federalgovernment for help. Several Philippine senators are now callingon President Joseph Estrada to demand the United States clean upthe bases. Philippine lawmakers also are opposing a proposed agreementwith the United States which would allow for the resumption of jointmilitary exercises and for U.S. warships to visit the Philippines. The agreement does not include any environmental protectionprovisions, they say. ''The United States has not owned up to its toxic legacy andfuture visiting forces will only create more toxic and hazardouswaste, be it in the form of ammunition or cleaning materials,''says Leano. ''Toxic and hazardous waste is part and parcel ofmilitary exercises." (Inter Press Service) | |||||||||
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