Panama Range Study

[FOR-TFLAC <forlatam@igc.org>]

DOD Study of Ranges in Panama Reveals UXO Problems

By John Lindsay-Poland, Fellowship of Reconciliation

 DOD issued a long-awaited study of unexploded ordnance (UXO) on 
major firing ranges in Panama on February 25, which confirms the 
existence of tens of thousands of UXO items on the three ranges, but is 
skeptical about the chances of cleaning them up without severe 
environmental damage. 
 At the same time, Panama's Foreign Ministry has reiterated its 
demand that the United States assume responsibility for clean-up of 
the ranges, even if it requires a commitment after 1999, when the 
Panama Canal Treaties require U.S. military forces to leave Panama. 
The Panamanian position challenges plans by Southern Command 
officers in Panama to use the firing ranges until the very end of 1999, 
which would circumvent any chance of clean-up during the life of the 
Canal Treaties. The Treaties require the United States to remove 
hazards to human life, health and safety to the extent practicable from 
military installations in Panama before departing.
 The issue is likely to heat up during the coming year, because 
DOD's Treaty Implementation Agency wants to transfer a piece of one 
of the ranges with UXO in it, thus accelerating the negotiation process 
between the two countries.
 The Panama range study was carried out by the Navy's Explosive 
Ordnance Disposal Technology Division and PRC Environmental 
Management. Although the study repeatedly notes the lack of historical 
archives about the ranges' uses, and its preparation included no field 
inspections of the ranges, it represents an advance in knowledge of 
both the UXO problem in Panama and potential solutions. It confirms 
that the New Empire, Balboa West and Pina ranges each have high levels 
of UXO; using the report's data, I calculate that Balboa West alone has 
more than 50,000 UXO items.
 The study's information on potential clean-up technologies is also 
useful, and allows a first approximation of costs for clean-up. Again 
looking only at Balboa West, I estimate that UXO detection in the 1665 
acres of impact areas, using manual methods, would cost between 
$128,000 and $2,274,000; removal of UXO from the Balboa West impact 
areas (using the figure of 50,000 items) would cost between 
$6,845,000 and $15,402,870. UXO detection of the whole range, 
however, would cost up to $125 million.
 But all this supposes that an effort will be made to clean up the 
ranges. Both the study and DOD officials interviewed assert that the 
lands can't be cleaned up without environmentally destroying the area, 
contributing to an erosion problem that already affects canal 
operations. This is because to detect UXO, the most reliable techniques 
require cutting or burning the vegetation. And because much of the 
ranges are on steep terrain, erosion is a greater risk and manual 
detection could be dangerous.
 This position doesn't consider a number of things. First, not all 
the range land is the same. Some areas are rolling grasslands 
propitious for clean-up, and the study acknowledges that the clean-up 
strategy should be site-specific. The United States cannot evade 
responsibility with generalizations that don't take into account 
solutions that exist for segments of the ranges.
 Second, the study does not consider at least one potential clean-
up technique that would be less damaging to the environment, which 
involves cleaning up the ranges in a checkerboard pattern. After 
cleaning up one quadrant, it would be left to grow back for a year or 
two, after which clean-up of a contiguous quadrant could proceed. Such 
a method would be more time-consuming, but it could prevent erosion 
or long-term damage. We invite EOD or other experts reading this to 
offer evaluations of this technique's viability.
 Third, even if some parts of the ranges in Panama are not 
susceptible to clean-up using existing technology without excessive 
damage, the technology for detection and disposal of UXO is in 
development, and may well be more effective in the future. The United 
States, to comply with the Canal Treaties and as a matter of good 
policy, ought to agree to make such technology available to Panama as 
it comes on-line. Future clean-up work could be carried out by DOD 
itself, or be contracted to private firms.
 One idea circulating in Washington is to establish an R&D center 
for the development of UXO clean-up technologies on tropical terrain. 
Such a center could have applications in other parts of the world (for 
removal of mines on densely vegetated land, for example). And 
Panamanians and others could be trained in clean-up methods, perhaps 
forming part of a planned "City of Knowledge" on U.S. bases being 
transferred to Panama. 
 Finally, even if Panama agreed not to allow clean-up of the ranges 
for environmental reasons, it would not diminish U.S. responsibility for 
ensuring that Panamanians are not injured or killed by UXO on the 
ranges. If parts of the ranges are fenced off and left as "reserves," the 
United States would have the moral responsibility to ensure their 
protection.

Other interesting aspects of the range study

 - In August of last year, a 5500-acre parcel from New Empire 
range was transferred to Panama. Only two weeks before the transfer, 
the Southern Command turned over its environmental report on the 
parcel indicating the risk of UXO present on the land. By that point, the 
Panamanian government had contracted to reforest the area, and was 
essentially locked in to the transfer date. The range study shows that 
the Southern Command was aware of the UXO risk on this parcel nearly 
two years before the transfer, but waited until the last moment to give 
that information to Panama. 
 - The study also mentions "chemical agents" used by the Army on 
Balboa West range, and tests by the Army's Tropic Test Center (TTC) 
using "gas VX (nerve agent)" on New Empire range. In addition, Agent 
Orange was reportedly used by the Army near Gatun Lake in what is now 
Panama's "Sovereignty Park." Chemical contamination was not clearly 
within the study's scope, but it has enough information to warrant 
further investigation, probably at the National Archives and Chemical 
Corp.
 P The Navy has used and still uses the Bailamonos River for 
military practice that has left UXO in waters of an inlet that feeds the 
canal. While the impact area is more than two kilometers from 
shipping lanes, it would be important to know if this has further 
implications. In addition, there have been UXO accidents on New Empire 
range in washouts outside the impact areas, where the action of heavy 
rainfall has carried munitions toward the canal. In other words, the 
study suggests questions about the potential effects UXO might have on 
the canal.

See "Unexploded Ordnance Assessment of U.S. Military Ranges in 
Panama: Empire, Balboa West and Pina Ranges" and "Evaluation of 
Unexploded Ordnance Detection and Interrogation Technologies for use 
in Panama: Empire, Balboa West and Pina Ranges," prepared for DOD 
Panama Canal Treaty Implementation Plan Agency, January 1997.

For information:
Fellowship of Reconciliation Panama Campaign
995 Market St. #801
San Francisco, CA 94103
Tel: (415) 495-6334
Fax: (415) 495-5628
E-mail: forlatam@igc.org