US, Vietnam open annual Agent Orange meetings

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam urged the U.S. to speed funding for Agent Orange victims Tuesday at the start of the fourth annual meeting on joint efforts to clean up areas that American forces contaminated with the toxic herbicide during the Vietnam War.

U.S. troops sprayed Agent Orange on jungles to deprive Vietnamese troops of ground cover. Vietnam says 1 million to 4 million of its citizens may have suffered serious health consequences.

So far, cleanup efforts have focused on the airport at Danang, a former U.S. air base in central Vietnam where American troops stored, mixed and loaded Agent Orange onto planes.

Agent Orange is perhaps the war’s most contentious legacy. After years of disagreement, the two sides began working together in 2006 to address problems linked to the herbicide. A joint study in Danang found dioxin levels were 300 to 400 times higher than internationally accepted limits.

The two sides have already taken temporary steps to contain dioxin, the highly toxic element of Agent Orange, at the Danang site. They are now seeking ways to remove the dioxin from the soil.

The two sides are also working on joint efforts to help disabled Vietnamese whose health problems might be linked to Agent Orange.

It isn’t clear how much the cleanup and health projects will cost.

The Vietnamese government estimates that cleaning Danang and the two other most contaminated Agent Orange hot spots will cost $58 million. So far, the U.S. government has set aside $8 million to deal with environmental and health issues linked to Agent Orange.

Nonprofit groups and international donors have contributed funds as well, and more will be needed.

Studies by a Canadian environmental consultant have identified seven Agent Orange hot spots, but Vietnam says as many as two dozen need to be cleaned up.

As this week’s meetings opened, the Vietnamese side urged the U.S. to speed up disbursement of money to help the disabled.

“We all know that exposure to dioxin is the cause of serious suffering to the victims,” said Nguyen Xuan Cuong, Vietnam’s vice minister of natural resources and the environment.

The U.S. Veterans Administration provides benefits to U.S. veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange and later developed various cancers. But the United States argues that more scientific study is needed to understand the link between Agent Orange and various physical disabilities suffered by Vietnamese who live in areas where it was used.

The Vietnamese say many babies of soldiers exposed to Agent Orange have been born with terrible birth defects.

The two sides have agreed to work together to help Vietnamese who have disabilities, regardless of the cause.

In opening remarks, U.S. Ambassador Michael Michalak said the U.S. has begun implementing three health projects serving people with disabilities near the Danang airport.

“We’re not just talking. We’re working together on concrete projects,” he said.

Michalak called for the two sides to support “sound science” in order to make decisions about cleaning up dioxin and dealing with its “possible health impacts.”