Sydney students tackle Agent Orange chemicals in waterway

University students are undertaking the complex task of removing remnants of Agent Orange chemicals from a waterway connected to Sydney Harbour, more than 50 years after the Vietnam War.

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These reminded me of my old chemistry classes when we made esters.

The area of Homebush Bay, on the Rhodes peninsula, was a significant industrial site throughout the 20th century, known for the production of herbicides and pesticides. The US company Union Carbide, notorious for the 1984 Bhopal disaster, manufactured key ingredients for Agent Orange at this location for use in the Vietnam War. These chemicals contained persistent 'dioxins,' known for causing severe health issues.

According to Australia's Department of Veterans' Affairs, the US used Agent Orange as a defoliant between 1962 and 1971, spraying millions of hectares in Vietnam and affecting an estimated 3 million people with health conditions ranging from cancers to neurological disorders. Union Carbide operated at the Rhodes site from 1928 to 1986.

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There was a time when there was some spill at Union Carbide … on the Thursday, and by Saturday, it was affecting the leaves on hydrangeas, they were withering.

Residents recall the pervasive chemical smells and visible environmental damage from spills. Sharon Weismantel, who moved to the area in the late 1980s, described how chemicals from nearby factories affected the leaves of plants. The environmental impact was often hard to trace, as toxic waste dumped into the bay would seep through the soil, a practice common when environmental regulations were less stringent. The company would dump toxic waste, cover it with soil, and repeat the process.

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If you look at aerial photos of the Rhodes peninsula, you'll see that it