Agent Orange bill set at $300m

This is long overdue, while the monies allotted isn't likely enough, it's good to see the US finally putting some funds towards repairing land damaged by the military's use of these chemicals in the Vietnam War. $100M will go to helping clean up the land and water, and $200M will go to helping those who were impacted healthwise, by these chemicals.

www.atimes.com

WASHINGTON - Thirty-five years after the end of the Vietnam War, a joint United States-Vietnamese panel endorsed a 10-year, US$300 million "plan of action" to deal with the deadly health and environmental legacy of the US military's widespread use of Agent Orange during the conflict.

The US government, according to the panel, which included policymakers, citizens and scientists, should provide most of the assistance, which would be designed both to clean up more than two dozen sites in southern Vietnam where contamination was particularly severe and to expand health and related care to people affected by Agent Orange and other dioxin-based herbicides.

"We are talking about something that is a major legacy of the Vietnam War and a major irritant in this important relationship," said Walter Isaacson, co-chair of the bi-national group and president of the Aspen Institute, which released the plan of action.
"The cleanup of our mess from the Vietnam War will be far less costly than the Gulf oil spill that BP will have to clean up [in the Gulf of Mexico]," he added.

a little late don't ya think?

Gota love our government.

I speak from personal experience, i lost my father to non Hodgkins lymphoma caused by the agent orange while he served his country in Vietnam.

Maybe there are a few families left that they can help.

Its Monsanto,there is the reason it took so long.
Monsanto is a big player.
I would love to see them sued to the point of bankruptcy.
300 million is nothing to them 35 years later.

This is true, its sad , dad has been gone for about 10 years now, he had cancer for 12 years, they have known for a long long time that it needed cleaned up, and treatment for those effected, but instead you had to fight to get any med coverage, and now they are thinking of fixing what they caused.
Just wonder how many thousands of families in both countries have been effected because of it. I'm sure the 300m wont even touch it.
I know of 6, in my little part of the world, and that was limited exposure, imagine the people living there, as it slowly worked its way into the ground and water way's.

But its all expected, its all about money, we are but a number for the system. Be it govt, or job.