hankyoreh

The environmental subcommittee for the South Korea-United States Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) launched a joint investigation yesterday into the disposal of defoliant at Camp Carroll. With growing concerns among residents following a number of concerning revelations, including the detection of highly carcinogenic trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene in nearby underground water, we look forward to seeing a prompt and thorough investigation. But the subcommittee did not include in its investigation any other bases about which allegations were made besides Camp Carroll. This casual approach could compromise its sincerity in the investigation.
Most incomprehensible is the omission of Camp Market, which is located in the middle of a residential area in Incheon. Camp Market was found to be the site of non-transparent disposal of highly hazardous materials in documents published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The location of a waste treatment facility, it processed more than 500 drums of hazardous materials in 1987 alone, including mercury, asbestos, and sodium sulfate solution. In 1989, it was cited by the U.S. General Accounting Office after the U.S. military merely stated that it had disposed of 448 drums of toxic polychlorinated biphenyl without leaving any record on how it was disposed of or where.
Perhaps as a result of this, a study of the area around the base conducted by Incheon’s Bupyeong District in 2008 detected benzene, lead, and other toxic materials at anywhere from 2.4 to 12 times the standard levels in the soil and underground water. Total petroleum hydrocarbons were detected at a full 32 times standard levels near an apartment complex bordering on the waste treatment site. A 2009 Korea Environment Corporation study found toxic trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene, the same chemicals detected at Camp Carroll, at 2.7 and 2.3 times standard levels, respectively. Moreover, Camp Market is suspected of being the site to which the chemicals buried at Camp Carroll were moved. There also need to be document examinations and soil testing to answer the defoliant allegations raised regarding Camp Carroll.
This base will be relocating to Pyeongtaek once that base is complete. An environmental study will need to be conducted anyway when the land is returned to South Korea. As such, there is no need to put off an investigation, which will merely have the effect of breeding suspicions. The wise choice would be to conduct a joint investigation voluntarily rather than being forced into it under the pressure of public opinion.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]