Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Captain Corea]

Apparently there's been a bit of a excitement over what some retired GIs said in a US TV interview...

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2936501

[legrande]

Agreed. Good on the veterans for stepping up. Bad on their superiors for coming up with the idea in the first place. Hopefully this was an isolated incident.

[ZIFA]

[carleverson]

I can see this incident stirring up the anti-american crowd here in Korea...

[Jane]

My husband said it was on the news yesterday, but that they hadn't disclosed the actual location during the report. He said that the contamination site was paved over to make a helipad.

[geldedgoat]

Good God, please don't let these allegations turn out to be true. I don't wanna spend the next month seeing endless reruns of 괴물 on TV.

[legrande]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/25/us-korea-usa-idUSTRE74O3U420110525

[Stout]

[Stout]

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/06/117_88489.html

Underground water pollution serious near US bases in Seoul

By Kim Rahn

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday that it has removed about 2,000 tons of oil-contaminated underground water around U.S. Army bases in the capital area over the last decade.

568 liters of floating oil and 1,970 tons of polluted underground water have been extracted since 2001 near two U.S. camps in central Seoul ― Yongsan Garrison and Camp Kim.

The revelation came amid growing public anxiety over the alleged burial of toxic defoliant in Camp Carroll in North Gyeongsang Province in the 1970s by the U.S. Army.

�We�ve removed oil-contaminated water around Noksapyeong Station near Yongsan Garrison since 2001. Around Camp Kim, adjacent to the garrison and near Namyeong Station, contaminated water and oil have been extracted since 2008,� a city official said.

The official said the contamination of land near Noksapyeong Station is believed to have started in January 2001 when an old oil tank underneath the garrison cracked. The U.S. side said it finished the cleanup in 2006 but the city is still detecting polluted groundwater near the station.

�The water contained harmful chemicals including benzene, toluene and xylene. We suspect pollutants within the bases are expanding beyond the camp sites after dissolving in rainwater,� the official said.

[chch8280]

missed this article when it came out as was studying for my exam.

well done to the guys for coming forward.

[Stout]

http://www.koreaherald.com/entertainment/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20110607000741

Pollutants found in drainage water from Yongsan Garrison
2011-06-07 19:59

Seoul City pumps 2,000 tons of tainted water from around U.S. military bases


Pollutants remain in drainage water from a central Seoul U.S. military base, despite the capital pumping nearly 2,000 tons of contaminated water since 2001, city officials said on Tuesday.


The discovery of pollutants is increasing concerns about waste disposal at U.S. bases, already heightened by concerns of possible Agent Orange contamination at camps in Korea.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, officials are still finding the water polluted with oil and other chemicals in the drainage system flowing from the Yongsan Garrison. However U.S. army officials claim that they finished a massive cleanup in 2006, regarding the areas in question near Noksapyeong Station and Camp Kim.

Separately, the capital pumped some 128 liters of oil floating on the underground water systems, and roughly 1,870 tons of contaminated water since 2001 in the vicinity of Noksapyeong Station and the U.S. Eighth Army base, officials said.

Some 440 liters of oil and 100 tons of water were pumped at a second site outside Camp Kim, which is located opposite the main Yongsan post, since 2008.

There is an estimated 11,776 square meters of oil-polluted land in the area around the military base and Noksapyeong Station, and some 459 square meters of land near Camp Kim as well, city officials said.

�There are benzene, toluene and xylene among other chemicals in the underground water system,� said an official, adding that they believe the pollutants were washed from the U.S. base by rainfall.

The city will devote some 250 million won ($231,300) in cleanup efforts this year, but officials believe oil will still be detected in the drainage system until 2016.

�We need to perform a cleanup operation on the source of the problem within the U.S. army base, but because we do not have free access to the area we are simply pumping out polluted water from the surrounding area,� an official said.

The city was able to recover some 3,766 million won through a suit against the government for the cleanup cost from 2001 to 2008, �We plan to pump polluted water through holes drilled around the U.S. army base,� said a city official, adding that preventing pollutants from entering the Han River was their main focus.

The U.S. Eighth Army declined to comment on the matter.

The findings come amid already escalated tensions between South Korea and the United States Forces Korea over multiple allegations that Agent Orange was buried at U.S. military installations in Korea.

A Korea-U.S. joint probe team is already investigating Camp Carroll in Waegwan, North Gyeongsang Province, for evidence of a burial and its results are expected later this month.

By Robert Lee ([email protected])

[Triban]

Shame on you U.S.A

[CentralCali]

Friday's Stars & Stripes reported no Agent Orange found. The article even quotes a Korean Environment Ministry official about dioxin being common in water sources around the world. And the level of dioxin found? Between 0.001 and 0.01 picograms per liter. 30 picograms per liter would be hazardous.

So, a joint investigation and a Korean lab determine that there's no cause for alarm. What's the response? More testing and continued protest. Personally, I think it's a good idea to be testing drinking water regularly anyway, but the protests are reminiscent of the beef rallies.

If you're interested, you can read the print edition of the Stars & Stripes 17 June 2011 on PDF here.

[Triban]

Shame on you Korea.