Project Phongsali 2011: Construction company uncovers bomblets, uses contaminated soil for fill, and then tells landowner to live with the hazard.

February 28, 2011
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The company building the road left this farmer with a mess. After excavating contaminated soil and trucking it away for fill, the company declined to remove the cluster bomblets their equipment had uncovered. Every time it rains, more bomblets wash out of the bank and further contaminate the land below.

Week Four

Day Twenty-Five

I took an immediate liking to Mr. Bouncham, even before I learned that he was a fellow beekeeper.  He’s a happy-go-lucky sort who, like me, enjoys an ironic joke.  When asked whether he felt anger toward the United States because of the bombs that currently plague him, he quickly dismissed the question.   Yes, the bombs are a burden but he holds no grudge against America.  On the other hand, he told me with a chuckle that if I were to tell President What’s-his-name that my friend Bouncham needs help, he’d take whatever the president has to offer.

While the United States bears ultimate responsibility for Mr. Bouncham’s troubles with ordnance, he thinks that more immediately it’s LCC, the Lao Construction Consortium, that dealt him a rotten hand.

A construction crew came onto his land with the largest machines he’s ever seen and began carving away at the hillside above his garden.  The company trucked away part of that hill but used most of the excavated soil to create a road giving their earthmovers access deposits of rock and gravel at the back of Mr. Bouncham’s property.

After the shovel had re-sculpted the hill, and the trucks had carted away the rock, Mr. Bouncham was left with a deadly mess. Ominously, his garden now sat beneath a steep clay bank that had cluster bomblets protruding from its face.

Then, it rained.  Bomblets weakly suspended in the clay bank washed out and, as round things will, rolled downhill.  Some bomblets ended up in the garden; some on the walking path; some came to rest on the edge of Mr. Bouncham’s prized fishpond.  Remarkably, a few bomblets defied gravity and remained embedded in the bank, albeit more exposed and weakly held than before. His farm, land that once sustained his family, was now, for all practical purposes, a minefield.

When Mr. Bouncham told the construction company about his problem management told him that his bombies weren’t the company’s responsibility.  Officials explained that, although it was the company’s shovel that unearthed the bomblets, and a company truck that moved contaminated soil about, his garden was beyond the right-of-way for the road.  He was told to go away and not bother the company with his problems.

In the months since, whenever bomblets fall out of the hillside, Mr. Bouncham picks them up with a shovel, carries them to the river, and pitches them in.  He knows that by moving the bombies he could trigger an explosion, and that his shovel method doesn’t truly offer protection, but he can’t think of an alternative.  The police and the military have also refused to help.

After Mr. Bouncham told us his story we agreed to restore his land.  We’re searching his garden, the hillside, and the land between.    We’re not done yet but we’ve already found twenty-seven bomblets at ground level.  We can see another ten stuck in the clay bank.  Some bomblets appear to be firmly in place (at least until the next rainfall); others look ready to drop at any moment.

We’ve got an interesting job ahead of us.  We’ve got to blow up some bomblets, while not disturbing others.  We’ll probably begin with those on the ground and hope that those overhead remain in place.  Then, when the ground is clear and we can more safely move around, we’ll invent a way to gently place explosive charges on the bomblets overhead without knocking them out of the soil.  The last thing we want is to have bombies falling at our feet.

One Response to “ Project Phongsali 2011: Construction company uncovers bomblets, uses contaminated soil for fill, and then tells landowner to live with the hazard. ”

  1. Carole Daughton on March 28, 2011 at 3:54 pm

    Jim–my silly computer wouldn’t bring up your web site until today and I’ve been so worried about you!!! I was just getting ready to round my kids up at the church and do another presentation about WHWV and decided to check once more. Now I know you’re safe, I’m so relieved. If you can’t find kids that could use our help, anyone who crosses your path who could, please think of us and lend a financial hand on our behalf before you come back. I’m reading through every one of your entries–more chapters for your book. Stay safe dear friend, Carole

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