Det sker 37 år efter Vietnam-krigen sluttede og det er alt for længe, mener mange i et land, hvor 150.000 børn blev født med defekter på grund af plantegiften – USAID betaler projektet, som løber frem til 2016.
The US has begun a project to help clean up Agent Orange contamination at one area in Vietnam – the first such move since the war ended in 1975, writes BBC online Thursday.
The work is taking place at the airport in the central city of Danang. The US sprayed millions of liters of the toxic defoliant (giftige afløvnings-middel) over jungle areas to destroy cover for the Viet Cong guerillas.
Vietnam says several million people have been affected by Agent Orange, including 150.000 children born with severe birth defects.
A lawsuit brought by a group of Vietnamese nationals against US manufacturers was dismissed in 2007.
USAID (Amerikas Danida) is providing 41 million US dollar to the clean-up project, which is being carried out by two American companies in co-operation with the Vietnamese defence ministry.
The contaminated soil and sediment is to be excavated (fjernet) and then heated to a high temperature to destroy the dioxins. The project would last until 2016.
There are dozens of other contamination hotspots where the defoliant was stored, including two more airports.
The US and Vietnam resumed full diplomatic ties in 1995 and have grown closer in recent years amid concerns over China’s assertiveness over disputed territories in the South China Sea.
The US compensates its veterans exposed to the defoliant, but does not compensate Vietnamese nationals.
