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Lawyer talks about toxic waste left in Philippines
 Media Credit: Christine Johnson/Editor Reolita �Kim� Paray speaks about toxic waste left in the Philippines by the U.S. military Wednesday in the Atwood Theater. The toxic waste has caused multiple health problems and deaths.
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Imagine you have a newborn child. You can tell immediately that there is something wrong, but no doctor knows what it is. Not even four years later, not even now.
For families living in the Philippines, that is exactly what they are experiencing, and the culprit is the U.S. military.
Reolita "Kim" Paray spoke to students Wednesday about the tragedy of the U.S. military's toxic waste in the Philippines.
Paray was born and raised in the Philippines and immigrated to the U.S. in the mid 1970s. Paray has a law degree from the William Mitchell College of Law and provides pro bono work for the Asian community.
"This is very dear to my heart," Paray said. "Two years ago I visited the area contaminated by toxic waste. I visited the children. Most are disabled and unable to take care of themselves."
The problem of toxic waste started when the Philippines allowed a lease for the U.S. military to have the Clark Air Force Base and the Subic Naval Base. The country was a strategic place for flights headed to Vietnam during the Vietnam Conflict. Besides Vietnam, the Philippines also served as a strategic point for airlifts, large-scale aircraft deployments in cases of emergencies, and also a training ground for combat readiness.
"A century of storage of lubricants, oils, pollutants left behind," Paray said.
By having constant flights in and out of the area daily, used oil, fuel and lubricants and other pollutants were left behind when the U.S. pulled out in 1991. Once the U.S. left, Filipinos lived in the abandoned Clark Air Force Base. Since the bases had been used for at least 45 years, all the toxic waste had seeped into the soil, spreading deep and wide. When homes were built in this area, and wells dug, despite the depth of the well, the water tasted funny and looked funny. All the water was contaminated, however due to the poor state of the Philippines, nothing could be done and the people drank the water.
"It is estimated that at least 25 million gallons of fuel, oil, lubricants were left," Paray said. "As well as nearly 200,000 square feet of ammunition at Clark Air Force."
"The Philippine government were digging wells," Paray said. "People complained of the foul tasting and smelling water. The Philippine government couldn't afford to supply bottled water, so the people drank it anyway."
About a year after the Filipino people had moved into the base areas, strange things started to happen.
"Women started to have miscarriages," Paray said. "Children who were born were deformed. Men and women started showing different illnesses and didn't know why. The Department of Defense did a survey about the toxic waste they had dumped. They knew they had dumped it but didn't tell the rest of the government."
For years this continued, children being born with all different problems. Many had neurological disorders, infantile seizures and holes in the heart. Countless other disorders were happening. Many of these children have died.
"This compounded historical perspective of people being abused because they didn't know better," Paray said.
Eventually several toxins were identified and new homes were built a few miles from the bases, but due to the years of contamination and the depth into the soil, new wells could not be dug deep enough where they wouldn't eventually be contaminated.
The connection between all these births and defects is that all the children were either conceived or born at Capcom, the former Clark Air Force Base.
Now that it is known what is causing these deformities and disorders, the Filipinos are too poor to move, and so poor that they cannot afford the proper care and medical attention for their children, including heart surgeries. They have become torn between taking care of their children and themselves.
"The children are helpless," Paray said.
Because of the treaty signed between the Philippines and the U.S., the toxic waste was left behind and the U.S. is not legally held to clean it up.
"The U.S. claims it has no legal responsibility to clean up the waster," Paray said. "The treaty did not claim that the U.S. had to clean up the soil. While there is no legal obligation, there should be a moral obligation. This issue seems to be put on the back burner, if it is not ignored."
What doesn't help the situation is the U.S. involvement in the war against terrorism and the strategic location of the Philippines in efforts against Afghanistan and the al-Qaida network.
"The U.S. is back in the Philippines on training exercises," Paray said. "They are also training Philippine Army on how to attack the al-Qaida network. This means the US should be there six months, but there are talks to extend the stay to indefinitely. This would also increase people by a thousand. This would then require more fuel, oil and lubricants. Also it would increase training exercises and more bomb drops, more hazards."
This would continue to increase the contamination of the soil.
"The U.S. refuses to acknowledge or to send a group to research what is happening," Paray said. "People are dying. It would take another 30 years to get the soil toiled for use. What are these people to do?"
During one of Paray's visits, she saw women who were unable to afford to buy groceries for their families. As for the Philippine government, they are doing some things, but they can't afford to do much.
"I'm disappointed that our government doesn't feel morally obligated to help clean up the mess they made," said Kelly Hanlon, first-year student. "That they neglect the health issues that they caused."
She pointed out how expensive things like Tylenol were and that enough money to buy simple food wasn't even possible.
People no longer live at Capcom, but people are still having miscarriages and deformed children. People live as close as three to four miles away.
Paray encourages students to start letter-writing campaigns to government officials, the office of the president and the armed services. She encourages donations through groups and organizations of simple medical supply and other items.
"It's hardly enough, we need to do more," Paray said.
Nissa Billmyer can be reached at: [email protected]
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