Pollution revealed inside US military base in central Seoul

SEOUL - Environment activists and lawyers of the Republic of Korea on Monday revealed serious pollution inside the US military base in the heart of Seoul, which they described as the "tip of an iceberg".

Green Korea United, a green activist group, and Lawyers for a Democratic Society, an advocacy group composed of liberal attorneys, held a joint news conference in Seoul along with the association of residents to recover Yongsan US Army garrison.

They disclosed 84 oil spill incidents, which had happened inside the Yongsan garrison in Seoul from 1990 to 2015.

The data were obtained from the Pacific Command of the Pentagon through the Freedom of Information Act, a US law that allows for the full or partial disclosure of information controlled by the US government.

The 84 cases included 7 "worst" incidents in which at least 3.78 tons of oil was leaked. The number of cases of "severe" oil spills of more than 0.4 tons was 32 in the past 25 years. The severity of contamination was defined according to the US forces' own standard.

It was "the most conservative data", said Yoon Sang-hoon, secretary-general of the Green Korea United, given that the source of contamination inside the Yongsan base has never been investigated.

Six of the 14 known pollution incidents, made public by the parliament, the environment ministry and local media, were not included in the documents offered by the Pentagon, indicating the still hidden contamination inside the Yongsan base.

The concealment of environmental pollution by US soldiers escalated anti-US sentiment among the ROK public as seen in the 2000 incident where a civilian worker of the US Forces Korea ordered a spill of hundreds of bottles of formaldehyde, one of the most hazardous carcinogens, to be poured into a drain.

At the time, Green Korea United filed a complaint against the USFK worker as the toxic substance led directly into the Han River running through Seoul. The incident served as a motive for The Host, a 2006 ROK blockbuster monster film directed by Bong Joon-ho.

The green activists initially asked for a wide range of information, including the list of hazardous waste treated in the Yongsan garrison, the basic environmental information and the budget for environmental remediation, but the Pentagon only provided documents on oil spills.

'Tip of an iceberg'

The disclosure of oil leaks would be the "tip of an iceberg" in the colossal contamination the US forces will leave behind, before moving to their new base in Pyeongtaek, said Shin Soo-yun, head of the peace ecology team at Green Korea United.

Asked about the ongoing installation of a US missile shield, called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense in South Korean territory, the green activist said hearings must be first held to listen to what residents living near the THAAD deployment site say.

The US forces have claimed the X-band radar does not harm humans or the environment, but the activist said the US side should be held responsible for proving this claim.

The AN/TPY-2 radar is known to emit super microwaves, detrimental to human health and the conservation of nature.

The environment ministry had conducted three surveys of contamination inside the Yongsang garrison since May 2015, but it has refused to make the findings public.

(China Daily 04/05/2017 page11)