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June 18, 2010

Panel Calls for US-Funded $300M Cleanup of Agent Orange in Vietnam
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A binational panel has recommended the US government spearhead a $300
million project to clean up Vietnamese areas contaminated by the toxic
chemical defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Agent Orange has
been linked to cancer, diabetes and birth defects among millions of
Vietnamese as well as American veterans. The US-Vietnam Dialogue Group
says the ten-year plan should focus on twenty-eight areas around
Vietnam. The US sprayed nearly 20 million gallons of Agent Orange on a
quarter of the former South Vietnam and border areas of Cambodia and
Laos between 1962 and 1971.



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