PANO - The Office of the National Steering Committee on Overcoming of the Consequences of Toxic Chemicals Used by US during in the Vietnam War (Office 33) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), on August 18^th, organized a ceremony to close the landfill site where dioxin-contaminated soil was isolated, and to officially remove Phu Cat airbase in Binh Dinh Province from the list of dioxin hotspot in Vietnam.

The landfill is part of a US$5 million UNDP and GEF (Global Environment Facility) project  “Environmental Remediation of Dioxin Contaminated Hotspots in Viet Nam”, launched in July, 2010 and implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources’ Office 33 in close cooperation with the Vietnam Ministry of Defence.

Photo for illustration

Over the past years, more than 7,000 cubic meters of dioxin-contaminated soil, containing about 79 grams of toxicity equivalents (TEQ) of dioxin at Phu Cat airbase, have been safely isolated in this landfill. The landfill stops spreading of the dioxin to the environment and eliminate exposure of the local population. 

“With the landfill’s closing, Phu Cat airbase has been removed from the list of three dioxin hotspots in Vietnam. Dioxin is no longer leaking from the site and the dioxin will not have an impact on the environment and people living in the surrounding area,” said Assoc. Prof. Le Ke Son, Director General of the Vietnam Environment Administration and General Director of Office 33, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

“Together with the United States, UNDP and other partners, we will continue to remediate dioxin contamination in Bien Hoa and Da Nang airbases,” Mr. Son added.