The U.S. government has decided to grant 400,000 U.S. dollars to Vietnam for studying dioxin remediation options at Da Nang airport, U.S. Ambassador to the country Michael Marine announced Friday.

"The U.S. government understands concerns of Vietnam's government and people about dioxin's impact on environment and human health," the ambassador said at a press conference on the grant announcement.

The United States and Vietnam, especially their scientists, will work together to find best methods to minimize dioxin migration and exposure of local people to the chemical at the airport in central Da Nang city, he said, noting that the airports of Da Nang, Bien Hoa (in southern Dong Nai province), and Phu Cat (in central Binh Dinh province) are three identified dioxin hotspots in Vietnam.

"Vietnamese experts estimate that at least 700 billion Vietnamese dong (nearly 43.8 million dollars) are needed for remediation of contaminated areas in the airports of Da Nang, Bien Hoa and Phu Cat. The expenses to support Agent Orange victims are many times higher than those for the environmental remediation," Le Ke Son, Director of the Office of National Steering Committee on Overcoming the Consequences of Toxic Chemicals Used by the United States during the War in Vietnam under the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said at the press conference.

Son said Vietnam would like to receive the United States' data about its dioxin usage during the Vietnam War. Both Son and Marine said their countries encourage scientists to further probe into dioxin's impact on human health and environment, and reach common voice in the issue.

According to studies of U.S. scientists, the U.S. army dropped some 80 million liters of defoliants, mostly Agent Orange, which contained nearly 400 kilograms of dioxin, an extremely toxic substance, to Vietnam between 1961 and 1971, the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin told Xinhua recently.

The Vietnam War ended in 1975, but 4.8 million Vietnamese people have so far been exposed to Agent Orange, of whom some 3 million are victims, said the association.

Source: Xinhua