Plan for Agent Orange cleanup released

[unhappycamper]

Plan for Agent Orange cleanup released
By Margie Mason - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jun 16, 2010 10:02:16 EDT

HANOI, Vietnam — Thirty-five years after the Vietnam War, a $300 million price tag has been placed on the most contentious legacy still tainting U.S.-Vietnam relations: Agent Orange.

An action plan released Wednesday called for the first time on the U.S. government and other donors to provide an estimated $30 million annually over 10 years to clean up sites still contaminated by dioxin, a toxic chemical used in the defoliant.

The funding would also be used to treat Vietnamese suffering from disabilities, including those thought linked to Agent Orange exposure.

Washington has been slow to address the issue, quibbling for years with its former foe over the need for more scientific research to show that the herbicide sprayed by U.S. aircraft during the war caused health problems and birth defects among Vietnamese.

"We are talking about something that is a major legacy of the Vietnam War, a major irritant in this important relationship," said Walter Isaacson, co-chair of the joint U.S.-Vietnam working group that released the report. "The cleanup of our mess from the Vietnam War will be far less costly than the Gulf oil spill that BP will have to clean up."



unhappycamper comment: We trashed their country, poisoned them, and it took only 35 years to build a plan to finally take care of the 20 million gallons of Dow Chemical dioxon we dumped on them.

Iraq and Afghani$tan: Pay attention. (The next round is going to be about depleted uranium.) You're next.