From: ACTIV-L via Jym Dyer <jym@mica.berkeley.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.activism,talk.environment
Subject: PHILIPPINES: U.S. leaves toxic legacy at military bases
Followup-To: alt.activism.d,talk.environment
Date: 22 Dec 1992 00:03:42 GMT
Organization: The Naughty Peahen Party Line
NNTP-Posting-Host: remarque.berkeley.edu

[From EcoNet reg.philippine Conference]
[Also Posted to ACTIV-L and misc.activism.progressive (by Somebody Else)]

================================================================
=> From: Foreign Bases Project <fbp@igc.org>
=> Subject: IPS: Toxic Legacy at Bases

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Reference: Asia, eastern
Title: PHILIPPINES: U.S. leaves toxic legacy at military bases

manila, nov 23 (ips) -- the united states will leave behind a
frightening legacy of environmental damage when it ends nearly a
century of military presence in the philippines this week.

the last u.s. troops will leave subic naval base on tuesday,
more than a month before the dec. 31 deadline for the u.s.
pullout. the philippine senate last year rejected a new 10-year
lease on u.s. military bases in the country.

the united states abandoned clark air base in november 1991, a
few months after nearby mt pinatubo spewed tonnes of ash, mud and
rocks, causing severe damage to base facilities.

but u.s. government documents and on-site investigation by
filipino scientists and the philippine centre for investigative
journalism (pcij) revealed that the bases have been exposed to
danger other than last year's natural disaster.

for more than 40 years, the u.s. navy and air force stored and
improperly disposed of tonnes of military and industrial wastes
in and around clark and subic, according to a pcij report.

''we found enough evidence for people to be concerned,'' said
dr jorge emmanuel, a filipino-american environmental scientist
who led the scientific probe.

the report said u.s. forces had stored and used hazardous
materials banned at home, such as asbestos and polychlorinated
biphenyl (pcb), a cancer-causing chemical used in transformers.

a decrepit 19-km underground pipeline linking subic and
clark was found to contain huge volumes of highly-corrosive
aviation fuel, and live bombs and ammunition were left behind in
firing ranges at the two bases.

the findings raise questions on the u.s. military's policy on
environmental protection at overseas bases and threaten to shake
up an already troubled relationship with manila, triggered by the
philippine senate's rejection of a new bases treaty.

the u.s. embassy in manila has denied the reports, including
studies done by the u.s. general accounting office (gao), the
investigative arm of the u.s. congress.

''all they're doing is reporting hearsay evidence,'' said u.s.
embassy spokesman morton smith. ''we know what our standards are.
we know what our actions are. we are fully in keeping with the
requirements laid down by the u.s. government and the u.s. navy
practice.''

but u.s. military practice generates a lot of pollution. the
u.s. armed forces produce 500,000 tonnes of toxic waste every
year, said a study by u.s. journalist seth shulman.

a 1991 gao report said most u.s. bases overseas had poor
hazardous waste management facilities and programmes. u.s. navy
reports said subic produced 500 tonnes of toxic waste a year in
1990 and 1991, but disposed of less than 20 percent each year.

''we were endlessly producing industrial toxic chemicals and
discarding them without due regard for the pollution,'' recalled
former rear admiral eugene carroll, who is now deputy director of
the centre for defence information in washington.

ed pugay, 33, a former worker at subic's ship repair facility,
said it was only in the months leading to subic's closure that
base officials warned them of the dangers of asbestos and other
toxic wastes they inhaled while repairing or cleaning navy ships.

whenever pcb-contaminated fuel was spilled, the soiled ground
was dug up and isolated by workers wearing full protective
clothing and respirators. ''this worried many of us because they
only started doing this last year,'' said former subic worker
edgar magalang. ''what about those other years?''

children have also been killed or wounded when unexploded
bombs and ammunition left behind in firing ranges blew up.

fernando velonza, whose eight-year-old son died when live
ammunition exploded at a subic firing range, said: ''i couldn't
do anything ... the people i was up against were armed, so i just
had to think of it as an accident. that's all i could think of.''

the full extent of the environmental damage is unknown, but
some u.s. officials say they will neither conduct a study nor do
a clean-up if serious damage is proven at subic and clark.

u.s. estimates show a comprehensive study at one facility
could cost as much as 1.5 million dollars, and clean-up at each
base could cost as much as 25 million.

u.s. officials claim the united states is not legally liable
for environmental damage at the bases, and argue they are leaving
behind valuable property estimated at two billion dollars.

prof raphael lotilla of the university of the philippines
college of law says manila should raise the issue of damage at
the bases, if only to educate filipinos on future dealings with
the united states.

''it would make them aware of the political considerations to
be taken into account in dealing with a superpower,'' he said.

lotilla added: ''perhaps more people will realise that when we
deal with any country, we must look out for our own interests --
nobody else will.''
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