Take responsibility for cleanup of toxic waste, US government urged

The family of the World War I Army Air Corps flyer after whom the former US Clark Air Force Base in Pampanga was named, has joined the call for the United States to take responsibility for the cleanup of toxic wastes there.

In a letter to US President George Bush, Allen Hubbard, a relative of Maj. Harold Clark, urged the US government to address "this critically important environmental issue."

"Other family members and I were dismayed to hear about the environmental catastrophe that has befallen the Philippine people as a result of toxic waste left on the base. There have been at least 80 deaths resulting from drinking contaminated water at the former Clark motorpool at the Cabcom evacuation site," Hubbard, a geologist from North Carolina, wrote Bush.

A copy of the letter was sent to Myrla Baldonado, executive director of the People’s Task Force for Bases Cleanup (PTFBC).

Baldonado met Hubbard and his wife Rosemary at a conference on children’s environmental health at Georgetown University in Washington D recently.

The PTFBC said Hubbard sent his letter to the offices of President Bush and Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina.

"This communication significantly adds to the growing sentiment among Americans for their government to face up to the responsibility of cleaning up their former bases in the Philippines," Baldonado said in a statement.

She added: "It (also) challenges the Arroyo administration to negotiate vigorously for US responsibility in a way that doesn’t pale in comparison to these US citizens who, as a matter of fact, don’t have a stake in the resolution of this issue."

At a PTFBC-sponsored workshop on the impact of toxic wastes on children around former US military bases, Hubbard’s wife said the Clark family does not want the "name of our forefather attached with a responsibility which we are unbelievably walking away from."

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Heherson Alvarez, who is a member of President Arroyo’s US entourage, confirmed that children have gotten ill or even died because of drinking contaminated water.

"The lubricants and chemicals have seeped gradually into the wells," he said.

Alvarez said he and former President Fidel Ramos brought up the matter to the attention of former US President Bill Clinton during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit in Subic a few years ago.

"The Americans listened but have not taken any action," Alvarez said.

He admitted that he had not recommended to President Arroyo that the issue be discussed with President Bush but expressed optimism that the Philippines has a "chance to renew" the appeal, especially with the support the Philippines has given to the US’ fight against terrorism.