(VOVworld) - The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, visited an ongoing US-funded project to clean up dioxin from a former US air base in the central city of Da Nang on Friday as part of his working visit to Vietnam.
Speaking at the site, General Dempsey expressed his pleasure over the project’s progress, saying the US would continue to support Vietnam in decontaminating dioxin left over from the war at Da Nang’s airport. He reiterated that both countries’ efforts in settling issues remaining after the war have contributed to enhancing bilateral ties between Vietnam and the US as well as promoting mutual trust among the people of both countries, ensuring benefits and health for those people living in affected areas. He added that this was vivid evidence of the two governments’ good relations.
Da Nang international airport has been a dioxin hot spot, with high amounts of dioxin left over from the war in the local soil and mud. Currently, more than 45,000 per 80,000 cubic meters of soil contaminated with dioxin has been treated with safe burial treatment technology under a project funded by US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is scheduled to finish in late 2016.