美軍調查向韓國傾倒有毒橙劑報告

The U.S. Army says it is looking into a report that drums of the Vietnam War-era toxic defoliant Agent Orange were buried at an American military facility in South Korea 33 years ago.A U.S. Army spokesman told VOA on Thursday that the Army is reviewing historical records to try to verify the report. It is also consulting environmental experts to learn how the dangerous material should be handled.

South Korea's Environment Ministry said Thursday it will ask U.S. officials to determine whether the chemical was dumped in 1978 at Camp Carroll, near Daegu, in the southeastern part of the rts of the dumping first appeared last week on a television station in Phoenix, in the U.S. state of Arizona ((KPHO))e U.S. Army veterans told the station they had been ordered to dig a ditch, nearly the length of a city block, to bury about 250 bright yellow or orange drums, each believed to contain 208 liters of the defoliant. They said the chemical was seeping through the barrels and gave off a "sickly sweet" smell.美國陸軍表示，正在調查一則關於一些越南戰爭時期使用的有毒落葉劑“橙劑”33年前被埋在韓國的一處美軍設施地下的報導。美軍一名發言人星期四對美國之音表示，美國陸軍正在審閱歷史記錄，爭取覈實這個報導。陸軍也在諮詢環境專家來了解如何處理這種危險物質。

韓國環境部星期四說，將要求美國官員確定這種化學物質是否在1978年被傾倒在韓國東南部大邱附近的卡羅爾軍營。上個星期，美國亞利桑那州菲尼克斯市的 KPHO電視臺最先報導這條消息。三名美國陸軍老兵對這家電視臺表示，他們奉命在一條城市街道附近挖了一道溝壕，用於掩埋大約250個鮮黃色和橙色的桶。他們相信每個桶裏裝了208升這種落葉劑。這些老兵說，化學物質從桶裏滲出，發出一種“噁心的甜味”。