Page Contents

Documents (All reports and documents that people can access via the web)
    *Reports on the contamination at Clark and Subic in the Philippines
    *Reports related to environmental contamination in overseas bases

Other Resources (Other resources which are available from the FACES office)
   *A listing of resources which can't be accessed from the web

• Clearwater Reports - "Technical Review Report: Environmental Baseline Survey, Former United States Navy Installation, Subic Bay, Philippines, June 30, 1998,"  (57 pages) Clearwater Revival Company, Alameda, CA, 1998;  Commissioned by Arc Ecology for the People's Task Force for Bases Clean Up. Purpose was to determine whether the methodology and recommendations of the Woodward-Clyde report were technically sound. Determined that the study did not accurately characterize contamination at Subic Bay Freeport Zone. Concluded that "the results of sampling performed during the EBS indicate that existing environmental conditions within the Freeport Zone present an imminent and substantial endangerment to human health and environment."
  
  
• Clearwater Reports - "Technical Review Report: Soil and Water Baseline Study Report, Former United States Air Force Installation, Pampanga, Philippines - August 22, 1998," Clearwater Revival Company, Alameda, CA, 1998; available from US Working Group for Philippine Bases Cleanup (see below). Commissioned by Arc Ecology, a California based non-governmental organization dealing with base cleanups, for the People's Task Force for Bases Clean Up. Purpose was to determine whether the methodology and recommendations of the Weston report were technically sound. Challenged one of the Weston report's major recommendations, namely, to continue using the drinking water supply. Found flaws in the sampling methodology that could underestimate the extent of contamination. Also pointed out limitations in the analysis of soil sampling results.
  

• "An Environmental and Health Impact Report on Known and Potentially Contaminated Sites at Former US Military Bases in the Philippines," (29 pages) Paul Bloom, Alex Carlos, Jorge Emmanuel, and Theodore Schettler, August 1994.  Written by a team of US and Filipino scientists sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), a non-governmental organization in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Reviewed of DOD, WHO, and other existing information including site visits and interviews.  Identified 14 known contaminated sites, 17 potentially contaminated sites, and 5 areas of further concern at former Subic Naval Station. Also identified 5 contaminated sites and more than 10 potentially contaminated sites at Clark Air Base.  Described potential health effects due to migration of  toxic plumes and resulting human exposures.

• "Environmental Destruction Caused by US Military Bases and the Serious Implications for the Philippines," paper presented at the Crossroads 1991 International Conference, Manila, Philippines, May 14-16, 1990.  Paper presented at the Crossroads 1991 International Conference, Manila, Philippines.  Reviewed the environmental record of the US military and gave examples of the adverse impact on communities.  Cited a 1986 Pentagon Inspector General's report revealing serious hazardous waste disposal problems involving lithium batteries, pentachlorophenol-contaminated ammunition boxes, and PCB transformers in the Philippines.  Also finds  that environmental standards were ignored in foreign countries.
  
  

Reports related to the environmental contamination in overseas bases

• Host Country Bill of Rights for Persons, Indigenous Peoples, Communities and Nations Hosting Foreign and Colonial Military Bases
  http://www.apcjp.org/billofrights.htm
  
  
• Executive Order 12114 : Environmental Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions (1979)
  http://www.facessolutions.net/docs/eo12114.PDF
  Note: Requires Adobe Acrobat reader to view this document
  
  
• Environmental Law for Department of Defense Installations Overseas http://www.facessolutions.net/docs/overseas_base_cleanup_law.PDF
  Note: Requires Adobe Acrobat reader to view this document
  
  
• Foreign Policy - In Focus - Military In Focus:Overseas Military Bases and Environment Volume 3, Number 15 June 1998
  http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/briefs/vol3/v3n15mil_body.html

OTHER RESOURCES

• Various televised reports of illnesses at Clark by Senator Legarda-Leviste, episodes of her "Loren" show; video available from US Working Group for Philippine Bases Cleanup.
  
  
• "FilAm women expose toxic hazards at ex-US bases," Philippine News  (South San Francisco, CA), March 24-30, 1999.
  
  
• "Health for All: A Study of the Health of People Living on or near to the former US Clark Air Force Base 1996-1998, Joint Project of the International Institute of Concern for Public Health (Canada) and People's Task Force for Bases Cleanup (Philippines); A joint project of the International Institute of Concern for Public Health and the Peoples Task Force for Base Cleanup. Principal investigator Dr. Rosalie Bertell. Survey of 759 family respondents from 13 communities around Clark Air Base. Survey included health problems, economic status, environmental conditions, and living conditions. The dominant health problems noted were female, urinary tract, and nervous system problems. Respiratory problems were reported in 24-31% of children in each community surveyed. Dust and poor water quality were each associated with kidney and urinary tract problems, corrosive drinking water with respiratory problems, and water with an unusual taste or smell with nervous system problems. The highest percentage of female, urinary tract, and nervous system problems occurred in Margot, Sapang Bato, (Angeles) Macapagal, Poblacion, San Joaquin, and Cabcom (Mabalacat). Dr. Bertell recommended officials target these areas for improvement, remediation, and cleanup.
  
  
• Environmental Baseline Study at Subic Bay Freeport Zone  (SPFZ),Woodward-Clyde International (USA), February 1997.  Commissioned by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority with a $670,000 loan from the World Bank. Identified potential areas of significant contamination and determined the presence of toxic materials based on a review of past land uses and activities, sampling, and analysis of soils, groundwater, and sediments in the developed areas of the Freeport.  Recommended remediation of 9 sites costing $7-10 million and further investigation of 13 sites costing $1.4 million.
  
  
• Soil and Groundwater Baseline Study of Clark Development Corporation, Weston International (USA), August 1997.  Commissioned by the Clark Development Corporation for $26,000.  Groundwater baseline study tested water for chemicals and bacteria within Clark Field and CABCOM evacuation center.  A total of 21 of the 24 locations sampled had at least one pollutant that exceeded drinking water standards.   The soil baseline study identified contamination at 13 of the 14 sites studied. Recommended that the soil and groundwater of 75% of the soil sites be further investigated.
  
  
• "US Military Bases and the Environment: A Time for Responsibility," Proceedings of the 1996 International Forum on US Military Toxics and Bases Clean-up, Manila, Philippines, November 23-26, 1996
  
  
• "Reverberations of Militarism: Toxic Contamination, the Environment, and Health," T.H. Schettler, Medicine & Global Survival, Vol. 2, No.1, March 1995.
  
  
• "Subic Bay Environmental Risk Assessment and Investigation Program," Mission Report to the Environmental Management Bureau, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, World Health Organization, May 1993.
  
  
• "The Subic and Clark Cases," in Lecture-Series on the Philippine Environment in the 21st Century: Issues and Concerns, Jorge Emmanuel et al., University of the Philippines Law Center, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines, 1993.
  
  
• "Toxic Sunset: On the Trail of Hazardous Waste From Subic and Clark," 28-minute video documentary by Benjamin Pimentel and Louella Lasola, 1993.  Video documented interviews with workers exposed to asbestos and victims of accidental detonation of unexploded ordnance.  Also showed footage of hazardous waste being sold to scavengers by the US Navy, unexploded ordnance at a Subic bombing practice range, hazardous waste in an uncontrolled dump used by the US military, and hundreds of leaking hazardous waste drums abandoned at Clark.
  
  
• World Health Organization Mission Report-Subic Bay Environmental Risk Assessment and Investigation Program, May 1993.  Prepared for the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).  Contained a brief history of Subic Bay Freeport Zone, listed operations conducted when the facility was still a naval base, and physical description of area. Identified and classified 32 activity areas at Subic based on potential contamination. Fifteen activity areas were identified as high priority, meaning areas requiring detailed site inspection and sampling.
  
  
• US Navy Potential Restoration Sites on Board the US Facility, Subic Bay, October 1992. Identified 28 potentially contaminated sites on Subic, as well as 28 potentially contaminated training areas and ranges utilized by Naval forces. At many sites, contamination was documented, but no cleanup had occurred; at others, a limited cleanup had occurred but was found to be ineffective; and for some sites, no investigation had occurred but contamination was suspected due to records indicating many years of toxic discharge.
  
  
• "Military Base Closures: US Financial Obligations in the Philippines," General Accounting Office, GAO/NSIAD-92-51, January 1992. Report by the investigative arm of the US Congress.  Identified some contaminated areas by environmental officers at both Clark and Subic. Estimated that the costs for environmental clean up could approach Superfund proportions.
  
  
• The Environmental Review of the Drawdown Activities at Clark  Air Base, Republic of the Philippines, US Air Force, September 1991.  A preliminary and incomplete study which identified some sites where hazardous materials were stored, used, and disposed of; sites where spills had taken place and where samples were taken showing varying levels of contamination.