Contamination on Yongsan US base confirmed

Government inspection finds high levels of benzene in groundwater

By Kim Se-jeong

Underground water on the 8th U.S. Army headquarters on Yongsan Garrison was found to be contaminated by oil, according to Ministry of Environment data released Tuesday.

The revelation confirmed the longtime suspicion of contamination on the military base which is not normally accessible by the authorities. The government was able to run a special inspection in 2015 but refused to disclose the test results until Tuesday.

The release came after almost two years of legal fighting between the ministry and a civic group, Lawyers for a Democratic Society, over the release of the contamination test results. On April 13, the Supreme Court upheld a high court decision, ordering the ministry to release the results. The ministry refused to disclose the data, citing the military agreement between Korea and the U.S., known as the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which requires consultation before releasing any information to the public.

According to the results, benzene was detected in 10 out of 14 areas around the camp. At one, identified as B01-873, the level of benzene was 2.44 milligrams per liter, 162 times over the acceptable limit. Among the 10 others, six had benzene levels higher than the limit. Benzene is believed to be dangerous to human health, causing cancer.

Three inspections took place in 2015 and 2016 and the ministry said the results for the other two inspections will be released soon as well.

Environmental activists lashed out at the government. “The government of Korea should serve the interest of the Korean people, not that of the U.S.,” Green Korea, a Seoul-based NGO, said in a statement.

The data carries significance in that the two countries are in the process of returning the land to Korea. If the land is returned without negotiation, taxpayers will have to pay for the cleanup.

The issue of water and soil contamination on the Yongsan base surfaced in the early 2000s. Due to SOFA, inspections of the base had been impossible. The city government began cleaning up outside the base, spending a huge amount of money each year.

On-base inspections took place in 2015 following mounting public pressure.

But the findings were kept secret by the ministry. The civic group’s requests to disclose the results were refused twice by the ministry which claimed it was a violation of SOFA and could cause diplomatic problems. The second refusal prompted the group to take the case to court.

It is too early to gauge the extent of the contamination on base. Earlier this month, Green Korea released the U.S. military’s internal report saying between 1990 and 2015, 90 oil leaks occurred on the base, and in seven cases, at least 3.7 tons of oil were involved. “The military document described them as the worst incidents,” said Shin Soo-yun, an activist with Green Korea.