U.S. military: No Agent Orange at South Korea base

http://www.stripes.com/news/u-s-military-no-agent-orange-at-south-korea-base-1.147286?localLinksEnabled=false

By Ashley Rowland
Stars and Stripes
Published: June 23, 2011

SEOUL — Environmental reports released Thursday by the U.S. military show hazardous chemicals that were stored at Camp Carroll since at least the early 1960s were often haphazardly stored and disposed of, but the U.S. military says it has yet to find any evidence of Agent Orange contamination at the base.

The reports, a 1992 land use survey of the base and a 2004 site investigation of two heavily polluted areas within Camp Carroll, were released to the public as part of the U.S. military’s efforts at transparency during an investigation into whether Agent Orange was buried at Carroll in 1978.

According to the 1992 report, a number of hazardous materials, including solvents, pesticides, herbicides and petroleum products, had at that point been used and stored at Carroll for more than 30 years and had contributed to groundwater contamination. Storage and disposal of materials had been haphazard, with a number of spills and leaks reported, including leakages of diesel fuel and the improper disposal of battery acids into a drain. Proper disposal methods for solvents had not been enforced, the report said.

There is no evidence, however, that Agent Orange was among those chemicals.

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