US adds $130M to dioxin cleanup project at Vietnam airport, one of world’s most contaminated regions
People decontaminate dioxin at the Bien Hoa Airport area in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam, Jan. 17, 2025. Photo by Read/Thai Ha
An additional US$130 million has been added to a dioxin decontamination project at Bien Hoa Airport in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam, bringing the total funding to $430 million.
During a meeting on Friday between Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defense and U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper, deputy defense minister Hoang Xuan Chien highlighted the successful collaboration between the two nations in clearing unexploded ordnance, chemical toxins, and dioxin.
This partnership, Chien noted, has not only contributed to environmental cleanup but also to the socio-economic development of Vietnam.
Chien expressed gratitude to the U.S. government for ensuring continued funding for the project, which has seen the funds increase from $300 million to $430 million. The additional funding will expand the scale of support for post-war dioxin victims in Vietnam.
The project, which began five years ago, has completed its design phase for using heat technology in the first stage of dioxin removal. The design was approved by Vietnam’s defense ministry in November 2024, according to the air force.
The ministry has called on the air force and other relevant units to accelerate progress on the project and continue working with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to install the heat technology systems.
Bien Hoa Airport, a U.S. military base during the Vietnam War, was a storage site for herbicides. Between 1969 and March 1970, four chemical leaks occurred, releasing 27,500 liters of chemicals into the environment. Experts have identified the airport area as one of the most heavily dioxin-contaminated regions in the world.
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