Dioxin clean-up tipped for airport in Danang
Danang has handed over 29 hectares of land at Danang International Airport to relevant bodies to conduct a dioxin clean-up project.
Vice Chairman of the city People’s Committee Nguyen Xuan Anh said on November 7, the city has created favourable conditions to support the US$43 million project.
The project, implemented by the Ministry of National Defence of Vietnam and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), aims to clean an estimated 73,000 cu.m of contaminated soils and sediments at the airport in the next three years.
The site was handed over on November 6, and the preparations for the project will be done during the wet season.
“The project testifies to the efforts made by the Vietnamese and US government in healing the consequence of war,” Anh said in a meeting with the USAID’s representative on November 7.
Earlier, the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment completed an environmental impact assessment and unexploded ordinance clearance at the site.
As scheduled, the city’s international airport will be free from dioxin contamination by 2016.
The airport is referred to as a dioxin “hot spot” by the Government due to the high levels of dioxin in the soils and sediment.
USAID Vietnam’s Mission Director Joakim Parker said the project’s success would be an example for the other programmes in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, a programme called “Comprehensive Support for People with Disabilities” will begin this year.
Since October 2008, USAID has co-operated with non-governmental organisations to provide services to approximately 11,000 persons with disabilities and their family members in Danang city.