June eco-article from the Ambassador of Gumiby | 17-07-2011 00:49 |
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In this article I would like to detail in the recent Camp Carol dioxin filling-up that took place very near Gumi city. Last May, a soldier, Steve House, serving as a heavy equipment transporter confessed that three men were given orders to dig a hole and bury 250 drum cans of ?Agent Orange? in 1978, 33 years ago. People?s concern grew as little amount of dioxin substance was found in the water, even it was very little amount. Dioxin is known to be the most dangerous toxic that human have made. It is mostly made from burning coal, petroleum, tobacco, or manufacturing chemicals such as agrichemicals. Dioxin has 10000 times stronger toxicity than potassium cyanide. When this enters human body, it accumulates semi-permanently and causes a deformed child delivery and cancer. It is not yet confirmed that camp carol had ordered to bury the defoliant, or Agent Orange, there are many cases that camp carol has been contaminating the surrounding environment. Until 2004 they have released waste or oil on purpose whenever it rained through a small stream of water. That water later meets with the body of Nakdong River which is the headwaters of citizens in Gumi, Daegu, Busan, and so on. This is one of the reasons that people are suspicious about camp carol burying such substances. According to Steve House, he was told to dig a hole inside the base and he cannot forget it even now. He says that on the drum can of 55gallons, it was written ?Vietnam region, compound Orange,? and this is the ?Agent Orange? that U.S. force used in Vietnam as defoliant. Robert Travis, who also participated in the task, said that there were about 250 drum cans in the storehouse and immediately being exposed to them he had red eruptions on skin and arthritis in neck, wrist, and feet. Other co-workers also stated they experienced unknown diseases. Camp carol is located just 2.2km from Nakdong-river, so if the burying of Agent Oranges is confirmed true, it would affect overall Korean society hugely. Furthermore dioxin is known to stick to soil rather than water. Even if current situation has just found little amount of dioxin substances in water, we can never be relieved. It is very regrettable and sometimes infuriating that such substances have been buried near Gumi city and in Korea. However more fundamentally, it is more regrettable that Agent Orange, defoliant, dioxin itself was made by humans in order to destroy forest and nature. I hope best for the potential might-be-affected-people and also hope that people have learned something from this tragic happening. |
