Filipinos: U.S. has 'obligation' to clean up toxic waste on former military bases
By Carlos Bongioanni,
and Donovan Brooks, Stars and Stripes
Carlos Bongioanni / Stars and Stripes
Outside the former Clark Air Base's perimeter fence, Filipino children use a hand pump to
fill up on drinking water. Several studies have shown that the ground water and soil at
many sites inside Clark are contaminated with toxic waste. |
Editor’s note: This is another story in an occasional
series on the U.S. military presence in Asia. The first one appeared in yesterday’s
Stars and Stripes.
Filipinos who peered into the well-maintained, pristine grounds of U.S. military bases
here likely never thought the chain-link fences contained a toxic wasteland.
In comparison to the impoverished, dilapidated and trash-strewn streets of the
surrounding communities, the bases looked like paradise. But in 1992, when the United
States withdrew from Clark Air Force Base and Subic Bay Naval Base after almost 100 years
of U.S. military presence, a nefarious perception of the bases began to take shape.
Several studies by the U.S. General Accounting Office, the Department of Defense, the
World Health Organization and other agencies identified at least 18 contaminated sites on
or surrounding Clark and Subic. The toxic waste contamination was "at Superfund
proportions," said Myrla Baldonado, founder and executive director of the Peoples
Task Force for Bases Cleanup, referring to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
program that established a threshold for federal cleanup help.
The GAO report pointed out areas polluted by military operations, she said, "but
there’s been no progress in terms of the United States owning up to its financial
obligations," to clean up the mess.
A nongovernmental study of environmental contamination and health effects caused by
former U.S. military facilities in the Philippines may be on the way after congressional
approval this month. The United States is not obligated to conduct a study, said Delegate
Robert A. Underwood, D-Guam. But because official support has been registered,
international and Philippine advocacy groups are more likely to find funding for a study.
Baldonado said based on earlier studies, the cleanup is expected to cost at least $1
billion.
"In the haste of our departure, unfortunately little effort was made to provide
any environmental restoration at the bases, albeit none was required. This was a result of
the 1988 Amendment to the Military Base Agreement," Underwood told House members.
A different set of rules
This contrasts with recent U.S. military base closings in Germany, where the
United States was expected to clean up, Underwood said.
"In the States or other countries, something would be done immediately, but in the
Philippines, it’s not a strong concern," Baldonado said. "But the United
States has a moral and legal obligation to clean up this mess."
She said her group wants a new GAO study to determine a cleanup cost.
One barrier is the 1998 Defense Authorization Act. It explicitly says U.S. armed forces
should not assist other nations with environmental preservation activities, unless the
secretary of defense approves it for national security purposes.
Carlos Bongioanni / Stars and Stripes
These pristine grounds behind the Holiday Inn on Clark Field do not look like a toxic
wasteland, but environmentals say the condition of some parcels on the former U.S. air
base reach U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund levels. |
However, Underwood told House members, "both our nations share a profound concern
for the quality of the environment, [and] the U.S. has a moral obligation to the
Philippines to cooperate in ameliorating this environmental degradation."
"The U.S. government has acknowledged that they need to release records [detailing
how the bases were used], and there is a need for dialogue," he said.
He noted, too, that if contamination exists, the Philippines shares responsibility
because of its lack of environmental safeguards and laws.
Groups in the Philippines have charged that high levels of toxic materials were
generated during 45 years of intensive U.S. military activities, including the production,
cleaning, use, and storage of weapons, ordnance, aircraft, naval vessels, land vehicles
and electronic equipment. Waste was dumped with little regard for the environment during
the Cold War, Underwood said, and chemical waste was frequently dumped into inadequate
sewage and treatment facilities.
More than 20,000 Filipino families who sought refuge from Mount Pinatubo spent years at
Clark between 1991 and last year as they waited for government housing. Many families
developed life-threatening illnesses they didn’t experience before, said Baldonado.
They complained of foul-smelling and oily water. Samples sent to a lab in Manila
confirmed the water contained oil and fuel, she said. Filipino officials later learned
that the site had been a huge U.S. Air Force motor pool.
PCBs and progress
Baldonado said she has seen some progress. The United States is training
Filipinos to clean up PCBs — chemical compounds once used to help insulate electrical
equipment — and other hazardous materials, she said. Also, a Japanese company has
provided a sizeable grant to "rehabilitate" a landfill at Subic Bay.
"But … the fact that the money isn’t coming from the United
States," is disheartening, added Baldonado. "It’s not really seeing the
polluter putting in something for the problem."
Baldonado said some Filipino government and civic officials have a vested interest in
denying the problem. They are trying to attract investors to create businesses inside the
former bases, which have been converted to economic free-trade zones.
"Authorities and the government have been downplaying the problem. Their goal is
to draw business … to sell the place," Baldonado said.
In one instance, representatives from a real estate agency came to Baldonado’s
office and expressed concern because nobody had told them about the toxic waste problem.
Even the people who built a park on former base property were not told that the grounds
used to be an asbestos storage site, she said.
Underwood commended the DOD and the State Department for turning over documents through
the U.S. Embassy. In October a DOD team began a defense-to-defense environmental
information exchange program and conducted a workshop on hazardous-waste management.
In December another interagency team — it included representatives from DOD, the
State Department, the EPA, the U.S. Agency for International Development and U.S.
Geological Service — conducted more workshops on environmental management systems.
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