`Camp Carroll defoliants moved to U.S. Army base in Incheon`

Korean military sources said Thursday that chemicals buried under Camp Carroll, a U.S. military base in North Gyeongsang Province, are likely to have been moved to the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office (DRMO) at Camp Market in Incheon.

“The DRMO, which is under direct supervision by the U.S. Defense Department, has collected and disposed of various types of scrapped materials and wastes from U.S. military bases in Korea for decades,” one source said. “The chemicals taken out of Camp Carroll were probably moved to this place (Camp Market) and were disposed of.”

Based on a 1992 report by the U.S. Army’s engineering corps, the 8th U.S. Army Command announced Monday that the barrels containing the materials buried at Camp Carroll and 40 to 60 tons of dirt around the burial site were taken out of the base and disposed of at another place.

“I understand that the U.S. Forces Korea are also conducting an intensive review of relevant records, considering the possibility that the `other place` mentioned in the report would be Camp Market," the source said.

Though U.S. forces have had two DRMOs since the late 1970s, the office at Camp Hialeah was so small that all waste was moved to Camp Market for disposal under U.S. military regulations.

Another source said, “I understand that the DRMO at Camp Market took in and disposed of various sorts of hazardous materials from U.S. military bases across Korea as well as ordinary waste."

"Chemicals from other U.S. military bases as well as Camp Carroll were likely moved to Camp Market for disposal.”

Camp Market has been at its current location since the 1953 Korean War armistice and houses the DRMO and other U.S. military units, including those for intelligence, telecommunications and engineering. The base touched off controversy over environmental contamination after heavy metals exceeding legal standards were detected in a 2009 soil examination.

ysh1005@donga.com