Cost of cleaning up U.S. bases rising

Yongsan Garrison continues to spew oil-polluted water near Noksapyeong, Camp Kim


Polluted water continues to flow out of a Seoul U.S. military base raising calls for more effective measures as the cost of cleanup totals billions of won for the local government, officials said Monday.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Yongsan District Office, the U.S. Eighth Army Yongsan Garrison base continues to spew oil-tainted water near Noksapyeong Station and Camp Kim.

The two local governments announced that the annual cleanup for such pollutants will begin within the month and continue till next year this time.

Officials estimate buying the necessary surveying devices and water pumps this year will cost some 300 million won ($267,100) near Noksapyeong Station and 200 million near Camp Kim.

Seoul City and Yongsan District are carrying out the cleanup to prevent the oil polluted water from spreading outside of the area, focusing on drainage flowing to the Han River.

The local authorities believe the pollution stems from a 2001 oil tank spill on the U.S. Forces Korea base near the station. At Camp Kim, officials have carried out cleanup operations since 2008 after first detecting oil in the water in 2006.

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, according to officials.

The surveyors have found substances such as benzene, toluene and xylene among other chemicals in the underground water system.

Officials say, cleanup and surveying Noksapyeong Station over the past 10 years has cost 3.04 billion won. The same operation at Camp Kim has totaled 520 million won since 2008.

Without cleaning up the source of the spills, both suspected to be within the U.S. military base, the local governments will be forced to pump the surface oil and water every year.

“If you look at the flow direction of the polluted water, it is indicating that the pollutants are coming from the U.S. military base, but they are not acknowledging it,” said one city official who declined to be named.

“The U.S. military believes a cleanup is unnecessary because it has already performed one earlier.”

The Yongsan Garrison declined to comment on the matter at the moment.

As of last year, officials have pumped out 604 liters of oil and 2,772 tons of polluted water in the vicinity of Noksapyeong Station and Camp Kim.

The issue of pollutants has raised tension between the public and the U.S. military presence here after an Agent Orange scare in Daegu last year.

Some people have clamored for the revision of the Status of Armed Forces Agreement to modify its environmental rules and hold the United States military responsible for any environmental pollution it causes.

The SOFA, signed in 1967 between Seoul and Washington, governs the legal status of the some 28,500 soldiers stationed here, as well as staff and their families.

By Robert Lee (robert@heraldcorp.com)