SOIL CONTAMINATION AT U.S. MILITARY BASE

[Anchor Lead]

Contamination-related controversies linger on connected to former US military bases. An old base site in Chuncheon, Gangwondo Province which was declared to have been decontaminated has been under fire, following the discovery of oil bands and asphalt concrete. In the latest development, dozens of oil canisters presumed to have been used by the US military have been found at the site.

[Pkg]

Back in May, oil and petrochemicals were found in the soil of the area where a U.S. military base was stationed. The amount detected was more than six fold the permissible level. Then in June, it was asphalt concrete. The pollutants came from the former U.S. Camp Page site in Chuncheon which was previously announced to have been fully decontaminated. Oil cans have now been found at the site this week... during a relics excavation operation. This container has English writing on it... meaning it likely belongs to the US army. So far 30 such 20-liter canisters have been found. Some cans are leaking, and there's a nasty stench. A tap on the can gives off a blunt sound, indicating it's not empty. Unused oil still remains inside.

[Soundbite] OH DONG-CHEOL(CIVIC COMMITTEE EXECUTIVE HEAD) : "I think the pollution is very serious. We suspected partial layers of contamination before, but now we confirmed raw materials were just buried in the ground."

About 109-thousand square meters out of the total 550-thousand square meter space occupied by former US bases have been decontaminated to date. These oil canisters were newly found in an area between an airstrip and a hangar which happens to be a boundary area in the decontamination work.

[Soundbite] KIM YEONG-HYEON(CHUNCHEON CITY GOV'T) : "I believe the Defense Ministry did a poor job in its preliminary survey. An all-out inspection should be conducted for a complete environmental overhaul."

Chuncheon City will set up an inspection team comprising the defense and environment ministries as well as civic groups to find out how the oil cans got buried and take steps to decontaminate the site.