US announces $32M contract for Vietnam dioxin cleanup

The contract, given to Tetra Tech, calls on the company to provide engineering design, construction management, environmental monitoring and treatments of dioxin-contaminated soil, among other tasks, according to a press release by the U.S. Embassy of Vietnam.

The release stated that the goal is to reduce risks of dioxin exposure and "restore the land for full use."

Back in March, Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Samantha Power announced another contract of $73 million had been awarded to U.S. firm Nelson Environmental Remediation USA to design and build a treatment facility to decontaminate soil and sediment around the air base.

USAID has collaborated with the Ministry of National Defense since 2019 to treat around 500,000 m3 of dioxin-contaminated soil at the Bien Hoa Air Base in the southern province.

In 2022, USAID also completed the remediation of an off-base lake and returned it to the community, as well as the remediation of an on-base area. It also finished constructing a long-term storage facility for soil with low contamination levels.

Cleaning up dioxin-contaminated soil at the air base will take another 10 years and cost $450 million.

The U.S. government has so far contributed $218 million out of an expected commitment of $300 million.

The Bien Hoa Air Base used to be a U.S. military base, where herbicides were stored during the Vietnam War. From 1969 to March 1970, four chemical tank leaks contaminated the area. Experts said that in terms of dioxin, the air base is the most heavily-contaminated area in the world.