An American delegation of assistants of senators and congressmen, led by Terra Lynn Sabag, paid a visit to the completed Environmental Remediation of Dioxin Contamination at Da Nang International Airport Project during a trip to the central city yesterday. — VNS Photo Cong Thanh

The project, implemented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Ministry of Defence of Viet Nam from 2012, has cleaned 90cu.m of contaminated soil and sediment through thermal treatment system and tested the treated soil and sediment with total investment of US$110 million. It also cleared more than 30ha of additional land for expansion project of the airport last year.

It uses an In-Pile Thermal Desorption (IPTD) system into which batches of contaminated soil and sediment are placed in a container and heated to 335oC, which destroys dioxins in soil.

The soil is later removed from the container and tested for traces of contaminants before being put back.

Major General and Deputy Head Commander of Air Defence-Air Force, Bui Anh Chung, said the project featured close co-operation between Vietnam and the US in dealing with a dioxin contaminated site.

He said it will be an example for the two countries to continue remediation at Bien Hoa Air Base later.

Sabag said the delegation’s visit aimed to strengthen US-Vietnam ties in trade, economy and defence, as well as solving war consequence in Vietnam.

The US delegation had a field visit at the site – where dioxin contaminated land has been completely cleaned with efforts by the US and Vietnam in the past six years.

The delegation also visited Agent Orange (AO) victims and disabled children. Da Nang is home to more than 5,000 AO victims, of which 1,400 are children.

Da Nang’s former US air base is considered a dioxin hotspot. Other dioxin-polluted spots include Bien Hoa in the southwestern province of Dong Nai and Phu Cat Airport in Binh Dinh Province.

USAID also signed a grant with Vietnam's Air Defence-Air Force Command for a total expected contribution of $183 million towards remediation activities in the Bien Hoa Air Base area over an initial five-year period.

Since 2000, the US has worked with Vietnam to resolve humanitarian and wartime legacy issues. These include the removal of unexploded ordinance, the identification of remains of missing personnel and the remediation of dioxin.

VNS