US to test soil at camp carroll next week

The US military in South Korea will use ground-penetrating radar devices next week for tests of soil on one of its bases in the South where large amounts of the toxic chemical Agent Orange were said to have been illegally buried in the 1970s, the chief investigator in the claims said Thursday. South Korea and the US launched a joint probe last week following the allegations by American veterans that US Forces Korea (USFK) buried the dangerous chemical near a heliport inside Camp Carroll in 1978, according to South Korean (Yonhap) News Agency. "As early as next week, we will have ground-penetrating radars that we can put over the location, and we will be able to see anything else buried there," the lead investigator, Eighth US Army commander Lt. Gen. John D. Johnson, told a local radio station. "And then if there is any indication of a threat to human health and there will be a test of soil," Johnson said. Early this week, the USFK said a large number of drums containing pesticides, herbicides and solvents were buried in 1978 at Camp Carroll in Chilgok, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, but they were removed during the following two years. The USFK also said its review of military records showed that "trace amounts" of dioxin were found in 2004 ground testing at the site, but the findings have not "directly" indicated that Agent Orange was buried at Camp Carroll. Agent Orange, a powerful toxic herbicide that was widely used in the Vietnam War, is suspected of causing serious health problems, including cancer and genetic damage in some people exposed to it and birth defects in their offspring. The defoliant was contaminated by dioxin, a highly toxic substance. Military officers from South Korea and the United States were in discussions to hold their first joint exercise aimed at testing their ability to cope with bioterrorism activities, officials said Thursday. The allies hold a series of military drills against a possible North Korean invasion every year but have never conducted a joint exercise solely for the purpose of dealing with bioterrorism threats