EPISODE 1070: JOHNSTON ISLAND…TINY ATOLL IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN…YOU CANNOT GO THERE…AGENT ORANGE STORAGE SITE
alaln skeoch
July 6, 2024
Thousands of leaky drums of Agent Orange were stored on johnston island
Johnston Island is so tiny that it is almost invisible,
few people are aware of the existence of the island. Visitors are forbidden by the United
States Air Force who has bulldosed coral from the lagoon to make an airstrip and a dock for freighters.
Most days the base is inactive,
But in the 1970’s Johnston Island was very busy receiving thousands of 45 gallon drums of a defoliant
called Agent Orange. a Million of gallons shipped from USAF bases such as Da Nang in Vietnam..42,000 gallons
from USA
some of the drums leaked chemical into ground water in Laos and Vietnam.
The results? birth defects and cancers even now 50 years after the war..
600,000 gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed on the jungle of Laos in an
attempt to expose the Ho Chi Minh Trail which delivered supplies and
soldiers to the battlefronts.
“Tell me a bit about Agent Orange.”
“ Chemical companies like Dow, Monsanto and many others were contracted
to make a more lethal defoliant from common herbicides used by gardeners.’The
result was Agent Orange.’
‘If it made people sick why not find a less lethal defoliant”
“The danger was not known immediately and the chemical was terrific defoliant.”
“How terrific?”
“Plants sprayed with Agent Orange died immediately.”
No one knew the long term effects …
agent Orange could live 100 years in soil and 14 years in the human body.”
”No alternative?”
“None, The closest defoliant took a month to kill jungle plants…Agent Orange was immediate.
The long term effects.”
“By the end of the war great swaths of jungle had been defoliated and villages saturated.”
“Howmuch Agent Orange remained?”
“millions of gallons were stored in USAF air bases like Da Nang.”
“So Johnston Island was chosen as a storage site. “
“Out of sight out of mind….is it still there?
“No. Special incinerator ships destroyed what could be incinerated.
some remains in the ground wherever
Agent Orange was stored “
437114732060673@1481227681264/The-At-Sea-Incineration-of-Agent-Orange-Near-Johnston-Island-in-the-Central-Pacific-Ocean.png” alt=”3 The At-Sea Incineration of Agent Orange Near Johnston Island in the Central Pacific Ocean by the M/T Vulcanus During Operation PACER HO in August 1977 (Photograph courtesy of USAF OEHL, Brooks AFB, Texas) ” itemprop=”contentUrl” class=”figure-details-image__main-image”>