RP to inspect former U.S. base

RP to inspect former U.S. base

MANILA (AFP): A Philippine government task force will inspect the former U.S. air force Clark base to determine whether any hazardous waste was left behind, President Joseph Estrada's spokesman said on Monday.

The technical working group of the task force "will be conducting an ocular inspection of the (suspected) contaminated sites in Clark on Friday", spokesman Fernando Barican told reporters.

The U.S. State Department has proposed setting up a private sector-led bilateral experts panel to clean-up Clark that will also include the U.S.-based Civil Engineering Research Foundation, he added.

U.S. troops abandoned Clark, north of Manila in 1991 after it was devastated by the catastrophic eruption of the nearby Pinatubo volcano, and handed over Subic Naval Base to the Philippines the following year after the Filipino senate rejected a new bases treaty.