Dioxin treatment at Bien Hoa air base. Photo by USAID.
Under the contract, Tetra Tech will provide engineering design, construction management, and environmental monitoring of civil works and treatment activities for dioxin-contaminated soil and sediment to reduce the risk of exposure to people on the air base as well as in the bordering communities to restore the land for full use.
In March, during her visit to Vietnam, USAID Administrator Samantha Power joined other US and Vietnamese government officials to announce another contract of up to USD73 million awarded to Nelson Environmental Remediation USA, an American small business, to design and build a treatment facility to decontaminate soil and sediment on and around the Bien Hoa Air Base.
Since April 2019, USAID has worked with the Ministry of National Defense (MND) to remediate approximately 500,000 cubic meters of dioxin-contaminated soil and sediment on and around the Bien Hoa Air Base. In 2022, USAID completed remediation of an off-base lake (Gate 2 Lake) and returned it to the community for use as a recreational area, completed remediation of the first on-base area (Southwest area), and completed the construction of the long-term storage facility for soil with low levels of contamination.
Dioxin remediation at Bien Hoa Air Base Area project is expected to take 10 years to complete and cost an estimated USD450 million. The US government’s contribution to-date is USD218.255 million out of a total expected commitment of USD300 million.
