The good things the USA does

DEADLY LEGACY

Dangerous Ground, Leftover bombs, Chemicals
Wreak Havoc at Former U.S. Bases in Philippines
Benjamin Pimentel, Chronicle 5jul01

Zambales Province, Philippines -- The U.S. military withdrew from two major bases in the Philippines in the early 1990s, admitting that it was no longer welcome. The pullout quieted a storm of nationalist protest and appeared to close a difficult chapter in the two countries' complex, shared history.

But nearly a decade later, the former Subic Bay Naval Station and Clark Air Base are again the subject of a bitter dispute.

American and Philippine environmentalists say U.S. forces left a trail of hazardous waste - from chemical-laced water that it is believed to have caused children to contract crippling diseases to unexploded bombs that have maimed and killed villagers.

The Pentagon says there is no proof that the U.S. military caused widespread contamination at Subic and Clark, and it refuses to clean up or even investigate the sites, saying that's the job of the Philippine government, which inherited the valuable real estate.

Some Philippine officials denounce the Pentagon's position as arrogant and possibly illegal.

"Why this is not being addressed is befuddling to me and many Filipinos," said Environment Secretary Heherson Alvarez.

The human toll is poignantly obvious in the affected areas.

A dozen residents of the town of Madapdap, within the Clark base's former boundaries, say the water they drank and used for bathing and cooking reeked of fuel and made them sick.

http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Bombs-Chemicals-US-Leftovers.htm