US Court to Hear Appeal by Vietnam Dioxin Victims
The US Court of Appeals will soon hear Vietnamese Agent Orange (AO) victims who are appealing a verdict by the Federal Court in June 2005.
The plaintiffs' lawyer, Constantine Kokkoris, said, however, the schedule for the hearing had not been fixed and expected lawyers on both sides to work it out soon.
In 2005 the Federal Court rejected a lawsuit by the victims against US chemical companies saying the case did not have legal grounds.
In related news, the US pledged $400,000 for Vietnam last week for cleaning up dioxin residues at a wartime US air base.
It included a Department of State grant and money and technical assistance from the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US embassy in Hanoi said.
An estimated 70 million liters of toxic chemicals were used from 1961 to 1971 by the US military and the US-backed South Vietnam regime.
Dioxin, added to the herbicide Agent Orange the Americans used to defoliate jungles, is one of the most toxic compounds known, scientists say.
Source: VNA
