Vietnam begins 1st phase of Agent Orange cleanup

Vietnam is kicking off the first phase of a joint plan with former enemy the United States to clean up environmental damage from the chemical Agent Orange. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

HANOI - VIETNAM is kicking off the first phase of a joint plan with former enemy the United States to clean up environmental damage from the chemical Agent Orange.

The project concentrates on hotspots where the defoliant was stored by Americans during the Vietnam War, which ended more than three decades ago.

A statement Friday by the US Embassy says Vietnam's Ministry of Defense will begin sweeping areas around the Danang airport for unexploded ordnance. Then, it will begin to remove dioxin from soil and sediment at the site.

Contamination from dioxin - a chemical used in the herbicide that has been linked to cancers and birth defects - has been a lasting legacy of the war. The cleanup will remove dioxin from 29 hectares (71 acres) of land at three sites. -- AP