Ex-soldier claims indiscriminate dumping at U.S. base


Another former U.S. soldier claimed seven years ago that his unit in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, dumped “every imaginable chemical” there in the 1960s, a U.S.-based Korean journalist said Monday.

The comment further escalated public anxiety over toxic chemical contamination by U.S. troops here, who are alleged to have buried a considerable amount of Agent Orange at a base in Waegwan, North Gyeongsang Province, in 1978.

On a website for former U.S. Forces Korea troops, named “Korean War Project,” a man, named Stephen Stallard, unveiled the claim by another veteran with a post titled, “Chemicals dumped at Camp Mercer.”

Ray Bows, who served for the 44th Engineer Construction Battalion at the camp in Bucheon from July 1963 to April 1964, made the claim on the website on May 24, 2004. The journalist, An Chi-yong, revealed the posting on his website “Secret of Korea.”

“I was with USACDK (U.S. Army Chemical Depot Korea) and we occupied the two warehouses on the right and the one on the left as you came in the main gate. In March and April, 1964, USACDK moved to Camp Carroll in Waegwan (as Chemical Depot was too close to the Demilitarized Zone),” Bows said in the posting.

“We dug a pit with a bulldozer ― doned rubber suits and gas masks and dumped every imaginable chemical ― hundreds of gallons if not more ― into the ground on a knoll behind the second storage warehouse on the right.”

Bows did not specify what kinds of chemicals were thrown there and how the dumping site had since been managed. Currently, the site for Camp Mercer is occupied by an engineer unit under South Korea’s Army’s Capital Corps.

He revisited the camp in 1978 and saw “no noticeable change” in the surrounding countryside, which he found surprising, Bows added. “Camp Mercer had not changed at all from 1964 to 1978-80,” he said.

Such remarks appear to indicate that among those thrown there could be hazardous substances, observers said.

Bucheon City said that it plans to check whether underground water near the site for Camp Mercer is contaminated with any toxic chemicals and that it will make “all-out” restoration efforts should what Bows said turn out to be true.

Bows’ comment was revealed after the U.S. military here said its internal records show some chemical substance was buried at Camp Carroll in Waegwan in 1978 and began moving the chemical waste somewhere else the next year to dispose of it.

The USFK also said that in a 2004 environmental survey in the region, dioxin, a toxic chemical known to cause cancer, was found.

The dumping cases have apparently put Seoul and Washington governments in a difficult situation, particularly as they have a variety of bilateral issues to coordinate, including those concerning North Korea and the free trade agreement.

Some observers say that they could undermine the long-standing bilateral alliance and trigger strong anti-American sentiment here.

Local residents near Camp Carroll have expressed strong displeasure over the reported dumping of the toxic substance, saying that they feel “betrayed” by the U.S. troops who have stressed “peaceful coexistence” with them.

They are concerned that the dumping could seriously damage the image of their living ground famed for “clean, natural environment” and cause the public to doubt the safety of agricultural products grown there.

“The U.S. troops that came here in 1960 lead the regional development here. But they have turned into obstacles for our development and a subject of fears,” said Chang Se-ho, chief of the Chilgok County, in an interview with the local daily Munhwa Ilbo.

Some environmental activists have expressed concerns over the possibility that there may be some other places where the U.S. troops have dumped harmful waste.

South Korea and the U.S. have launched a joint investigation into the alleged burial of Agent Orange at Camp Carroll for a “prompt, transparent” resolution to the issue.

Steve House, a soldier who served at the camp, told local media that about 600 barrels of the harmful chemical might have been buried near the camp’s helicopter landing facility, which is a central logistical support unit for the USFK.

Agent Orange is a toxic defoliant that the U.S. military used to clear jungles in the 1960s during the Vietnam War.

It is known to cause mental illness, cancer and fetal deformities. More than 33,000 South Koreans who participated in the Vietnam War suffered from aftereffects of exposure to the defoliant and have been registered as men of national merit.

The U.S. military is known to have sprayed defoliant south of the Demilitarized Zone from 1968-69 to more easily detect North Korean infiltrations into the South. The allegedly buried defoliant is reportedly left over from stocks used during the Vietnam War.

The U.S. maintains some 28,500 troops on the Korean Peninsula, who serve primarily as a deterrent against the North.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)