Lawsuit filed to compel US to identify abandoned toxic wastes in RP

American pro bono lawyers filed yesterday on behalf of 36 residents from communities around the former US military bases in Clark and Subic a lawsuit with the US Federal Court in San Jose, California to compel the American military to identify toxic wastes it left behind in its former Philippine facilities.

The lawsuit got the support of Greenpeace International, the Filipino American Coalition for Environmental Solutions, Arc Ecology and the Philippine-based People’s Task Force for Bases Clean-up (PTFBC).

It was filed under the provisions of the American Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, better known as the Superfund Law.

"This suit is being brought under the citizen suit provision of the law," said American lawyer Scott Allen in a press statement released to the Philippine media.

Allen, who is with the law firm Cox and Moyers, has brought a number of successful lawsuits against the US military, including one involving the former Fort Ord, a military Superfund site in Monterey County, California.

The Superfund Law, which the US Congress enacted on Dec. 11, 1980, created a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries and provided broad federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment.

Over five years, taxes amounting to $1.6 billion were collected and they went to a trust fund for the clean-up of sites where there are abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous wastes.

Local environmental groups staged a counterpart news conference in Quezon City to announce the filing of the suit.

The lawsuit seeks to enforce provisions of the law requiring the US federal government to investigate the release of hazardous substances in any of its former military facilities in the Philippines.

This is the first time foreign nationals have sued the US military in an American court under the provisions of the Superfund Law.

The plaintiffs’ Filipino lawyer based in Angeles City, Pampanga, Alex Lacson, said that while the lawsuit does not seek compensation, it would, if granted, support a civil case which Clark and Subic residents filed two years ago in a local court.

When the US military abandoned Subic and Clark in 1992, it allegedly left behind toxic wastes which threaten the lives of thousands of residents around the former US facilities, environmentalists say.

More than 200 people have fallen ill or have died from illnesses believed linked to the alleged toxic contamination.

Despite calls from various sectors, the US government has refused to take responsibility for the alleged toxic contamination.

In June 2000, residents around the two former US bases petitioned the US Air Force and the US Navy to conduct a so-called Preliminary Site Assessment Inspection (PASI) of Subic and Clark.

The US Air Force rejected the request, while the US Navy never responded. Allen said the California lawsuit asks the court to issue an order compelling the US military to conduct the assessment.

PTFBC executive director O’lola Olib said the suit is one of many actions taken by survivors of the alleged toxic contamination.

"Once the US military conducts a PASI, it would have no recourse but to admit responsibility for the many deaths and suffering inflicted on innocent people around the (former) bases," said Olib. "Ultimately, there should be a clean-up."

Cora Fabros, PTFBC board member, said internal documents from the US Defense Department released in 1993 revealed a history of toxic waste dumping, hazardous spills and environmentally destructive practices.

A Philippine Senate report listed 144 people in communities around Clark and Subic who have died of cancer and other illnesses believed linked to toxic wastes.

A 1998 health survey by the Canadian International Institute of Concern for Public Health found that communities closest to toxic sites reported high rates of reproductive, kidney and nervous system disorders.

"Today, residents living near Clark and Subic report many stillbirths, congenital defects, skin diseases, cancers and developmental disorders," Fabros said.