Washington’s 1st Dioxin Cleanup Project in Vietnam Successful

Officials from Vietnam and the U.S. have announced the successful completion of phase 1 of Washington’s 1st dioxin cleanup project in the Southeast Asian country, returning 45,000 square meters of dioxin-treated soil for the expansion of Danang airport. Senior officials addressing the inauguration ceremony of environment remediation in the central coastal city of Danang on May 3 included Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, Deputy Minister of National Defense Nguyen Chi Vinh and American Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius. Costing total $84 million, the project on cleaning up dioxin at Danang airport was implemented in 2010 by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense. The two sides continue the phase 2 of the project on excavating total 73,000 cubic meters of dioxin-contaminated soil and sediment at the Danang airport under thermal desorption technology at minimum 335ºC. Danang international airport has been referred to as a dioxin “hotspot” due to the high dioxin concentrations in soil and sediment remaining at the airport from the Vietnam War. Dioxin is one of issues hindering the improvement of the Vietnam-U.S. bilateral relations. (Baodautu.vn May 3)