Gyeonggi Province to carry out inspections of US bases on its own

By Lee Hyo-sik

The Gyeonggi Provincial Government said Sunday that it will conduct an investigation into areas around 28 U.S. military camps in the province to check whether soil and underground waters have been contaminated with dioxin and other harmful chemicals.

The regional government’s announcement comes amid allegations that American soldiers buried hazardous materials inside bases across the country.

The U.S. built a total of 51 bases in Gyeonggi Province. Of the 51, 23 have been returned to the Korean government, while the remaining 28 are still occupied and used by U.S. military.

The provincial government plans to collect samples of soil and underground waters in areas adjacent to the 28 active U.S. bases.

``To conduct an inspection inside the U.S. camps, we need to consult with the U.S. military in accordance with the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which will take quite a long time.

So, we decided to look into areas surrounding U.S. bases, which we can inspect independently,’’ a provincial official said.

The Gyeonggi Institute of Health and Environment, affiliated with the regional government, will begin an inspection as early as the middle of this month when the ongoing probe into Camp Mercer in Bucheon is expected to end.

``We will start looking into areas surrounding U.S. military camps as soon as we complete the ongoing investigation into Camp Mercer. Initially, we had planned to conduct the inquiry in cooperation with Ministry of Environment.

But due to growing public concerns over possible environmental contamination, we decided to launch the probe as early as possible,’’ said a researcher at the institute.

Last week, the Seoul Metropolitan Government also said it will look into areas surrounding 12 U.S. military camps to check for potential environmental pollution.

Currently, the government and the U.S. military are jointly conducting an on-site inspection inside Camp Carroll in Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province, which was cited by retired American soldiers as bases in which chemicals were allegedly buried in the 1960s and 1970s.

Among other activities, the team is using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) devices to try and locate drums of toxic chemicals in suspected locations and took groundwater samples to check for water contamination.

Separately, the Ministry of Defense is investigating Camp Mercer where various toxic chemicals were allegedly buried.

The camp has been turned over to the South, which is allowing the defense ministry to conduct an investigation without consent from the U.S.

The shocking allegations surfaced early last month after Phoenix-based broadcaster KPHO reported that former U.S. soldiers stationed at Camp Carroll said they buried 250 drums of leftover Agent Orange in the camp compound in 1978.

One of the veterans claimed that the U.S. military buried the toxic chemical near a helipad inside the compound.