Sen. Fernando Esteves announced plans yesterday to conduct a health
survey through the Investigative Task Force on Environmental Pollutants,
to record oral histories regarding exposure to Agent Orange and other
cancer-causing pollutants on the island.
The survey, along with
other environmental health analytics, will be compiled to conduct a
comparative analysis of subjective and objective data to verify whether
the military did use Agent Orange on Guam.
“The short-term goal is
an admittance of guilt by the Department of Defense,” he said. “And I
think they’re going to have a hard time proving that they didn’t use
Agent Orange here.”
Committing to environmental health efforts
Survey
administration will be a volunteer effort. The first-term senator
admitted the scope was expansive, and that funding for analysis of the
data is one issue that will need to be resolved.
In the meantime,
Esteves has opted out of his legislative retirement benefits along with
Speaker Benjamin Cruz, about $40,000 that can be redirected toward the
survey.
However imposing the task may be, Esteves said it's
important “not just because of what’s happened in the past, but how we
choose to move forward in the future.”
Esteves also said it was the task force’s responsibility to be committed to all environmental health efforts as a whole.
Reports of Agent Orange use
Agent orange is an herbicide used widely by the United States to kill vegetation during the Vietnam War.
According
to Viet Nam News, the U.S. sprayed more than 80 million liters of
herbicide over southern Vietnam, exposing about 4.8 million Vietnamese
to toxic chemicals.
Earlier this year, 68-year-old veteran Leroy
Foster told national news publications that he sprayed Agent Orange in
military facilities and defense properties on Guam.
Foster has said he suffers from 33 diseases, including five different cancers.
Officials have consistently denied that the U.S. military used Agent Orange outside of Vietnam, Post files state.
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