By A former USFK Sergeant First Class has contacted the Stars & Stripes to inform them that the barrels that were buried on Camp Carroll in 1978 were not agent orange:
A preventive medicine specialist who collected samples from barrels of chemicals dug up at Camp Carroll in 1979 said he knows of no evidence that Agent Orange was buried there a year earlier.
Furthermore, retired Sgt. 1st Class John Sipkens said none of the drums he saw had standard markings for Agent Orange, and no one he has spoken to regarding the testing ever mentioned the chemical, which was used widely during the Vietnam War.
Sipkens, who spoke to Stars and Stripes earlier this week, said he believes whoever ordered the mass burial of the chemicals in 1978 was probably taking “the easy way out” to avoid dealing with the large amounts of paperwork required to dispose of hazardous materials.
I don’t think they were trying to hide anything from the Korean government,” he said. “I think they were just trying to clean out the warehouse and make it disappear.” [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Sipkens wasn’t the same person commenting on earlier postings on the ROK Drop saying the same things in regards to these barrels uncovered at Camp Carroll. It is good that he has come forward to tell his side of the story on what happened. His story seems to confirm what I figured happened at Camp Carroll that some low level leaders decided to bury some unknown barrels of chemicals because it would be easier to do instead of going through the proper process to dispose of them. All that is known right now is that pesticides, herbicides, and other chemicals were removed from Camp Carroll and disposed of off post. USFK I think will still need to continue to ensure the Korean public that the chemicals are no longer buried on Camp Carroll and they are doing that with the GPR survey of the camp, but I think taking a few soil samples would do even more to build public confidence in the safety of the soil around Camp Carroll. Once confirmed the barrels are no longer buried on Camp Carroll than USFK will need to confirm where the barrels went from there for disposal. This may end up being the hard part to confirm considering how long ago it was and who knows what kind of records from back then remain.
You can read more over at the Marmot’s Hole who has a round up of Korean media stories that were positive in regards to how seriously USFK was investigating these claims. Some of the editorials think that USFK has learned something from the 2002 armored vehicle accident, which I agree with considering the aggressive media approach by USFK and the open and joint investigation with the Korean government, but also Robert’s point in regards to the Korean government not demagoguing the issue is also very valid.
6:48 am on May 28th, 2011 1
Yes, you read the story correctly. The biggest problem is that record keeping in the 30 years ago was manual.. No computers. Manual typewriters, no copy machines, lots of carbon paper and what we called flimsys. You could make about 7 copies of a document with the last couple being almost unreadable..
Some where they will find the lab results either USA Public Health Lab in Japan or at Aberdeen PG.. Someone out there knows the truth.. so far I have not heard anything about the officers in charge of Camp Carroll coming forward.. I know that at least a couple of them have passed on to see the SKY Pilot from old age. I am 61 Rowden 64 We were young then but not many of the Field Grades are still with us. I know that a Chapter 14 investigation was started. I heard the result was no one was held accountable. Both 19th Support Command General Officers of that era have died.
I feel so bad that Agent Orange is being put up as the poster child of these events.. Very Unlikely that any AO was dumped..It came from Vietnam to help along the DMZ with mass amounts of vegetation overgrowth that posed a threat to ROK and UN Forces. The report I read on the internet indicated that it was not wide spread usage. The unfair policy of if you were in Vietnam .. you get medical benefits from agent orange but not for Thailand with small exception and the same for Korea only along the DMZ 1968 to 1971. So GI’s now need to find a way to claim AO exposure. The GPR testing next week will help confirm that he ara was recovered in 1979-80 and may help define any testing sites for soil or ground water testing.
The test result for well 13 of the 2005 is basic background levels. Dioxin can be produced just by burning a plastic bag.. Thus, dioxin is not an indicator that AO was there. Just that Dioxin is present. 30 years ago we would have measured this in parts per million, not parts per billion and likely we can measure into parts per trillion now.
BTW, after 23 years a professional soldier I obtained my national credentials as a Registered Environmental Health Specialist, Registered Sanitarian and a Registered Environmental Health Professional. I have worked for a large local health agency investigating Hazardous Waste Management Practices to include sampling and site hazard assessment.