[CPEO-MEF] U.S. Military Wastes in the Philippines

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

DEADLY LEGACY, DANGEROUS GROUND
Leftover bombs, chemicals wreak havoc at former U.S. bases in Philippines

Benjamin Pimentel
San Francisco Chronicle
Thursday, July 5, 2001 


Zambales Province, Philippines -- The U.S. military withdrew from two
major bases in the Philippines in the early 1990s, admitting that it was
no longer welcome. The pullout quieted a storm of nationalist protest
and appeared to close a difficult chapter in the two countries' complex,
shared history. 

But nearly a decade later, the former Subic Bay Naval Station and Clark
Air Base are again the subject of a bitter dispute. 

American and Philippine environmentalists say U.S. forces left a trail
of hazardous waste - from chemical-laced water that it is believed to
have caused children to contract crippling diseases to unexploded bombs
that have maimed and killed villagers. 

The Pentagon says there is no proof that the U.S. military caused
widespread contamination at Subic and Clark, and it refuses to clean up
or even investigate the sites, saying that's the job of the Philippine
government, which inherited the valuable real estate. 

...

For the entire story, see 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2001/07/05/MN136311.DTL




-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
lsiegel@cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org

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