Belgium helps Vietnam seek dioxin treatment technology at Bien Hoa airport

This cooperation is between the Environment Treatment Technology Centre under the Chemical Corps of the Ministry of National Defence, Defence Economic Technical Industry Corporation (GAET) and Haemers Technologies SA of Belgium.

The key objective of the trial treatment is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Smart BurnersTM treatment technology and design in order to meet the site-specific dioxins target levels.

Under the memorandum of understanding reached by the sides, the trial treatment was scheduled to take place from November 2019 to March 2020 on an area of around 2000 sq.m. However, due to COVID-19, it was conducted from January 2020 to April this year.

It has been proven that thermal treatment is able to destroy all vapors and condensates.

The results have created a premise for the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Science and Technology and other relevant agencies to select the most feasible technology for dioxin remediation at Bien Hoa airport, located in the southern province of Dong Nai, said Major General Ha Van Cu, Commander of the Chemical Corps.

The officer expressed his hope that the Belgian group will perfect the dioxin treatment technology for it to be applied in hot spots in Vietnam.

Belgian Ambassador Paul Jansen said Belgium is ready to transfer core technologies in the spirit of partnership to help Vietnam speed up dioxin treatment.

Located about 30 kilometres from Ho Chi Minh City, Bien Hoa, was a major base for US Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine units during the war. In 2016, USAID, in partnership with the Government of Vietnam, completed an assessment of dioxin contamination at the airbase. The assessment identified almost 500,000 cubic metres of contaminated soil and sediment in need of remediation – almost four times the volume that was remediated at Da Nang Airport.