The investigative arm of
Congress hasn't located about a quarter of shipping records it needs to help
confirm the shipping to and through Guam of the hazardous defoliant Agent
Orange, according to Vice Speaker Therese Terlaje.
Terlaje said the U.S.
Government Accountability Office expects to issue its investigation report on
Agent Orange on Guam in early autumn, based on communication from GAO Director
Brian Lepore.
The senator said the
Government Accountability Office still is working with archivists around the
U.S. to try and locate the remaining records and expects to finish soon. The
records include possible ports of embarkation from the mainland U.S. and locations
to or through which Agent Orange was shipped, Terlaje said.
The Government
Accountability Office's inability to obtain additional shipping records is
concerning, Terlaje said in a July 5 letter to Guam Environmental Protection
Agency Administrator Walter Leon Guerrero.
The senator said this also
emphasizes the importance of proper and direct testing, on and off base, to
validate that Agent Orange was used on Guam.
"To that end, please
provide our office with a list of all documents or test results in your
possession or that should be reviewed that may indicate the presence of TCDD or
its parts or polychlorinated dibenzo-P-dioxins in water on land in Guam,"
Terlaje wrote. "Also, please share with us which additional areas GEPA
would recommend testing be done.
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