Demonstrators near Camp Long
trap American in Air Force vehicle
By Jim Lea, Osan bureau chief
Demonstrators outside Camp Long held an American inside his Air Force vehicle for about
two hours as he tried to leave the post in South Korea.
An anonymous U.S. military source said there were two Americans inside the vehicle as
it left the post, but one managed to get back inside the camp gate.
The second American was forced to remain in the vehicle throughout the incident, the
source said, but he was not assaulted.
South Korean police at the scene were asked to intervene, but refused to so, the source
said. A police spokesman in Wonju, the city in which the camp is located, would not
comment on the report.
Protesters have been holding sporadic demonstrations at the gate since late May, when a
local farmer claimed his field had been contaminated by fuel that the protesters claim is
leaking from Camp Long. The protesters said Thursday they have discovered a second leak,
which they claim also is coming from the camp.
The gate incident began about 2:30 p.m.
Protesters surrounded and stopped the Air Force vehicle as it left the gate, refusing
to allow it to proceed. The incident was resolved about two hours later, the source said.
U.S. Forces Korea activated an emergency operations center and treated the incident as
a hostage taking, the military source said, a claim denied by USFK spokesman Steve
Oertwig. USFK had no other immediate comment on the incident.
The protesters are from a local civic organization called the Won Citizens Group, which
includes farmers, other Won citizens and environmental activists. They have been
sporadically manning a tent at the Camp Long gate since late May when the first
contamination allegation was made.
City officials conducted an investigation and said they determined the fuel was JP8.
Since that fuel is not available commercially in South Korea, the officials pointed to the
U.S. camp as the possible source. U.S. military units use JP8 to fuel heating boilers,
generators and some vehicles.
Early this month, USFK and the South Korean Environment Ministry conducted a survey of
the tank. Pressure tests revealed the tank itself and a small pipe that feed fuel into an
adjacent generator building were not leaking. A slow drip of fuel from an old
three-quarter-inch pipe was detected, however. That leak was stopped, but officials have
not determined if enough fuel leaked from that pipe to reach and contaminate the
farmer’s field.
During that survey, U.S. officials said they have not determined conclusively that the
contaminating fuel was JP8, saying it could be kerosene, which is very similar. USFK has
sent soil samples to an Air Force lab in the United States for analysis, but the results
of that analysis has not been received.
Many South Korean farmers use kerosene to burn their rice paddies before replanting.
Back to June stories
Page Two news roundup
Stories from May, 2001
Stories from April, 2001
Stories from March, 2001
Stories from February,2001
Stories from January, 2001
Stories from December, 2000
Stories from November, 2000
Stories from October, 2000
Stories from August and September, 2000
Stories from June and July, 2000
Home |
