Environmental Contamination by U.S. Overseas Military Bases

by Shaun Sulzbach

Research for the 21st Century - Spring 2001

WAOL course
INTRODUCTION REFERENCE PERIODICAL ARTICLES NON-PRINT
TOPIC ANALYSIS BOOKS INTERNET SOURCES REVIEW

"In addition to the more conventional materials- such as propellants, oil, solvents, paints and preservatives- military facilities often also house deadly chemical and radioactive substances (chemical weapons, bomb components, metal solvents), most of which are secret and almost none of which are subject to environmental oversight controls. The more dangerous, complex and secret military activities are, the more grim and dangerous is the environmental fallout. Militaries routinely generate waste end products, including cyanides, acids, heavy metals, PCBs, phenols, paints and contaminated sludges. "

by Joni Seager, University of Vermont geographer and author of Dangerous Intersections.

INTRODUCTION

    The focus of this research project is the environmental contamination caused in the Philippines by US military bases. The US had Subic Naval Base and Clark Air Base in the Philippines, both of which are closed now. The US did not clean up the mess they left behind which has left an even bigger mess for the Philippines. There have been several incidents of birth defects and elevated cancer rates.
    I began this project looking for information on the cultural effect of US military bases overseas on the host communities and countries. Unfortuanately there was not a great deal of information available on this topic.As I did the searching though, I came across a lot of information on the environmetal effects of the overseas bases. The Philippines is not alone in this situation as there have been problems also in Japan, Okinawa, Puerto Rico, Panama,Germany and a host of other countries. I  chose the Philippines to give specific example of what is happening all over.
    The govenrment has in a few instances made an attempt at cleaning up the messes they have created but for the most part they are more show than effect. In other instances, the government has made no attempt claiming that no conditions were set in any contract for either maintaining or closing a base and to the responsibility of cleanup falls on the host country, many of which can not afford the millions of dollars required.
 
 
 
 

Topic Analysis

Academic Disciplines

LC Subject Headings

Keywords

Most Important Databases and Periodical Indexes

REFERENCE SOURCES

Organizations

Philippine Sustainable Development Network Foundation Inc.

http://www.psdn.org.ph/

PSDN is a non-profit organization composed of other organizations activly involved in pursuit of sustainable development. They offer access to several websites, homepages and databases providing information on several projects to better the Philippines including environmental issues such as base cleanup and reuse of the structures. They are based in the Philippines and are working to improve the networking of information.

Philippine Environmental NGO Network

http://www.philngo.com/

This is an organization that provides links to Philippine civil society groups and international institutions which impliment sustainable development and management process in thier respective fields. There are international and Philippine environmental agencies and organizations including links to the EPA, the US Air Pollution Database, and the World Trade Organization.

Statistics

"In addition to the 1995 policy, DOD is required by Executive order 12114 (signed in 1979)  to produce environmental  assesments  for actions overseas that affect the environment. Yet the U.S. has spent only $102 million on overseas base cleanups during the last four years versus $2.13 billion budgeted in 1998 alone for domestic base cleanups.

Lindsay-Poland, John and Nick Morgan. "Overseas Military Bases and Environment." Foreign
      Policy In Focus. vol 3, num 15 (1998) 28 par. May 28 2001.
      <http://foreignpolicy-infocus.org/briefs/vol3/v3n15mil_body.htm>

Articles in Reference Books

“Clark Air Base.” Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica. 26 May 2001
                < http://www.britannica.com/cb>
 

This is a short encyclopedia entry giving the location and size of Clark Air Base in the Philippines. It has the history of the base and talks about the base closure. This article is important to the project because a great deal of the other information deals with this base. 

“Philippines.” E-Conflict World Encyclopedia. 26 May 2001

    < http://emulateme.com/content/philippines/htm>
This article gives brief descriptions of the history of the Philippines, it’s location, population, and other general encyclopedia information. This information will help the reader have an understanding of the situation the project talks about.

BOOKS

McDonald, John W., and Diane B. Bendahmane. U.S. Bases Overseas: Negotiations with 

     Spain, Greece, and the Philippines. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990.
This book covers all aspects of the negotiations and problems with U.S. bases in Spain, Greece, and most important to the project, the Philippines. It brings in aspects of the history of the U.S. and Philippine relations, agreements, and the military’s perspective on the issues.
  
Sandars, C.T. America’s Overseas Garrisons: The Leasehold Empire. Oxford: Oxford

     University Press, 2000.
This book has a large section on the Philippines covering the size of the base, the number of servicemen, the base history, and the withdrawal of the U.S. It gives the cost of the withdrawal, both to the U.S. and the Philippines as well as many other key issues important to understand the situation in the Philippines.
 
 

PERIODICAL ARTICLES

Kiester, Edwin Jr., and Sally Valente Kiester. “Yankee Go Home and Take Me With 

     You.” Smithsonian May 1999: 40+ Proquest Direct. Bell & Howell Learning and 

      Information. Seattle Central Community College Lib. 26 May 2001.

     < http://www.umi.com/pdqauto>.
This article deals with the past history of the U.S. government’s involvement in the Philippine’s government. It also brings in the effects on the people due to the presence Of the U.S. and after the base closure. This article helps the reader to understand the situation from the perspective of the Philippines. 
Lindsay-Poland, John and Nick Morgan. “Overseas Military Bases and Environment.”

     Foreign Policy in Focus Vol 3 Num 15 (1998): SIRS. SIRS Mandrin, Inc. Seattle  

     Central Community College Lib. 26 pars. 26 May 2001.

     <http://sks-pw.sirs.com/>
This article deals with the lack of a good U.S. program for dealing with environmental contamination at foreign military bases. This is a very useful article because it lists other web sites dealing with this issue as well as a list of other publications. 
“U.S. Military Bases Leave a Toxic Legacy.” Asia Times. 08 April 1999. 26 May 2001.

     <http://www.atimes.com/Philippines/AD08Dn01.html>
This article goes into specific details about the contamination of the water, air and soil of the Philippines by Clark Air Base. It talks about the lack of a genuine effort by the U.S. to remedy the situation, as well as statistics such as the cost of the clean up.
 

INTERNET SOURCES

United States. Department of Defense. Defense Environmental Network and Information

      Exchange. 26 May 2001. < http://www.denix.osd.mil/>



< http://www.denix.osd.mil>
This site provides useful information on the topic by having several articles as well as publications and manuals on the government’s programs to protect the environment. There are also different manuals for different agencies’ environmental policies. This helps to offer the government’s side of the issue. 
The U.S. Military’s Legacy of Toxic Waste in Clark Air Base, Philippines. American

     University. 26 May 2001

    < http://www.american.edu/projects/mandala/TED/clark.htm >

    < http://www.american.edu/projects/mandala/TED/clark.htm >
   This site deals specifically with the environmental problems left behind in the Philippines after the U.S. left Clark Air Base. It talks about what the Philippines did to clean up the mess left behind and make use of what else was left behind. It adds to the project by giving specific examples of the topic in the Philippines.

NON-PRINT

This is the library of congress case study of the Philippines. It covers the topics of geography, society, economy, and the influence of the U.S. This site has many statistics and exact examples. It provides a great deal of very useful information on the Philippines for the reader to better understand the problems caused by the U.S. government’s handling of the Clark Air Base situation.
Library of Congress. Philippines. Online. 26 May 2001
    < http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/phtoc.html>
 

REVIEW of my Research Process

I found in researching this topic that the majority of the information came from internet souces. There are several organizations out there that not only report on the problem, but are trying to do something about it. Sources on the internet are not always as reliable as those found in the library, but most of the sources I found had credibility.
    The articles I found for this subject were not usually found in mainstream publications such as Time or Newsweek, but more from alternative press sources. Publications that deal specificly with environmental issues or from publications originating from the areas that were dealing with the contamination left behind.
    From the information I have found through the research process I would have to say that our govenment has not lived up to thier responsibilities. True, the government did lease the land in most cases and as a result of having american personel there the economy of the country was raised, but the damage left behind needs to be corrected. The Department of Defense declaired a commitment to make the US military a global environmental leader and from the information I have gathered they have not lived up to that commitment and have a long way to go until they do.
 
 

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