Camp Long --
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There is no question that USFK has soil contamination problems.  It is also equally undeniable that the Korean military and other elements of Korean society have the exact same problems.

A high school friend of mine is an environmental engineer from Georgia Tech.  He works year round on fuel and oil leaks with gas stations in America. 

The fact Korean society's use of such contamination on US military bases - while never ranting or raving or putting out news stories and editorials of the same problems in Korean owned and operated institutions - is the epitome of hypocrisy.

Average Koreans easily dismiss this counter with a typical mind-block.

Average Koreans are very friendly.  And they have too much to do to have time to join in street demonstrations against the US.  But they do share a simple quiet agreement with the basic thoughts of the active anti-American civic groups.

When confronted with the hypocrisy of anti-American environmentalism in Korea, both respond:

"So, USFK never pollutes?!"

"No.  Obviously I just admitted that they do have contamination issues."

"So, it is all right if they pollute?"

"I'm talking about exaggeration and perspective.  Is is ok if the chaebol or Korean military or others in Korea pollute?"

"So, USFK never pollutes?!"

....

The Camp Long fuel crime is a good example, at the very least, of the "sincerity" of the Korean civic groups:

   About two years of weekly protests by the Wonju
   Citizens Group at the Army’s Camp Long ended Saturday. 
   An announcement by U.S. Forces Korea confirmed the
   tiny support base will be returned to Korean control
   under the Land Partnership Plan.

  "Since Camp Long will be returned, there is no longer
   a reason to hold the protests," a group official said
   on the condition of anonymity. "We will redirect our
   efforts toward how to use the returned land."
        (Stars and Stripes article)

Too bad for the farmers who could have gotten funding for the contamination USFK admitted it probably committted who were told to not collect and continue with a law suit.

Here is how the story unfolded over these two years.

   The leak was first discovered on May 19 when farmers
   found large amounts of oil flowing into waterways
   next to their rice paddies. Camp Long is situated
   just about 30 to 40 meters away from the site.
      (Korea Times 5/29/2001)

   Residents in the contaminated area have claimed that
   about 100cc of oil is flowing into the area from the
   U.S. military base every minute.
      (Korea Times 5/23/2001)

  "As there is a possibility that the whole farming area
   has been polluted by oil, a through joint inspection
   of the area must be swiftly carried out," he said.

  "Even though test samples prove that the oil came from
   the military base, the USFK is continuing to deny the
   charges," said Yun.

   Korean officials were also briefed on the results of
   the USFK's separate investigations into the incident.
   The details were not immediately available.
       (Korea Times 6/28/2001)

The Korean press uses quotes from the anti-US civic groups as authoritative and place them in places of influence in articles.

It also uses the tactic of burying USFK claims and often simply omitting what they say outright.  

For example, during the massive coverage for months over the US military's "arrogant reaction" to the tragic death of the two middle school girls run over by a USFK armored vehicle, the Korean press did not report the $150,000+ monetary settlement paid to each family - which is exactly how Korean law handles such cases.

   The underground water in the area was also polluted,
   with toluene, a cancer-causing substance, detected
   in some samples, the report revealed.

  "It is especially alarming that the underground water,
   which has served as a source of tap water for the
   residents for years, was found to be contaminated,"
   noted Yun.  (Korea Times 12/13/2001)

When I first arrived in Wonju, my boss advised me to wash fruits and vegetables in either bottled or boiled water.  In 1996 or 1997, an adult student called me early one morning to tell me to not use any tap water for any purpose because the city was going to shut off all the water due to the amount of pig feces they had detected.  The water for the entire city of some 250,000 people was cut off for a couple of days.

  "As local residents and municipal governments both
   suffer from considerable damages due to U.S. troops
   in the area, we drafted a bill to collect government
   compensation for them," a Chunchon municipal
   government official said yesterday.

   The bill aims to support local governments with
   state subsidies for providing land to U.S. military
   troops, and to provide compensation for damages
   caused by U.S. forces in such areas as transportation,
   environment and city planning, among others.

  "We are also considering levying fees on U.S. troops
   for using privately-owned property or facilities,"
   he said.  (Korea Times 6/19/2001)

Koreans often complain that the land US bases occupy was "taken" by the US military without permission ----
during the Korean War! --- I guess our blood wasn't payment enough...

During the protests at Camp Long, groups pitched tents and held continual events while camping out for days.  At one of them, a member of the US Air Force was held hostage in his car for a couple of hours while Korean riot police refused to intervene.  (Stars and Stripes article)

After USFK and Korean government tests which took a couple of weeks, USFK accepted responsibility for the contamination though a source was not found.  (Stars and Stripes article)

This did nothing to stop the bleeding or hate.

  "Although we have not been able to conclusively
   determine from where it is coming, the results of
   our joint surveys strongly indicate that it is
   consistent with the properties found in JP-8 and
   is probably coming from our installation," said
   Area III Commander Col. Glenn DeSoto at a press
   conference held Tuesday in Camp Long.
         (Korea Times 7/21/2001)

The official admission came after several reports in Stars and Stripes about what Camp Long and USFK were doing to determine the actual nature of the fuel and leak.  It took time because of the similarities between JP-8 and kerosene which is used extensively in Korea - including by farmers to burn old crops before planting.  (Stars and Stripes article)

A March 2002 report stated that a clear determination of whether the fuel from the soil was JP-8 or another of the kerosene family had not been made.  (Stars and stripes)

The Korea Times news report on the official admission had this to say about the nature of USFK actions after the allegations of the leak were made by Korean anti-US civic groups:

   Although civic groups have been shouting themselves
   hoarse regarding the issue of environmental
   pollution by U.S. troops stationed in Korea, this
   marks the first time that the USFK formally
   apologized and acknowledged responsibility for
   contamination caused by U.S. military bases.

This is a misleading statement at best and more of an editorial statement than a news reporter's language.  I guess he didn't have time find a civic group member to give him a quote to cover it.

See this article from 11/24/2000 of a fuel line break in Taegu, and see how the admission and actions of USFK did nothing to dent the press coverage of Green Korea claims.  USFK responded, I believe, much faster than the Korean government would have in similar circumstances, but USFK is always "arrogant" in such matters.

There were other problems in the reporting of the Camp Long case.

  "Although it has been proven that oil leakages from
   Camp Long contaminated farmland in the area, the USFK
   has not restored the land to its original state. Nor
   has it undertaken any consultations for compensation,"
   said Yun Yo-wang, director of Wonju Citizens' Group
  (WCG).  (Korea Times 12/13/2001)

This is from Dec. 2001 and below is the Stars and Stripes in March 2002 about the third attempt by USFK to explain to the farmers how to submit compensation claims and this included Korean language forms and information on the process:

   The residents say they want compensation, but they
   haven’t filed any complaints.

   "If your claims had been filed last year when we
   admitted responsibility for the leak, it’s very likely
   you already would have been paid," Hyder told them.

   The farmers, Wonju officials and two national
   assemblymen said complaints can’t be filed because
   an environmental survey has not been completed.
   That survey is being conducted by U.S. Forces Korea
   environmental officials and the South Korean
   Environment Ministry. USFK officials could not be
   reached for comment.

  "We won’t know how much damage was caused and how
   much it will cost to repair it until the survey is
   finished," one farmer said.

   He said if the complainants are compensated now,
   and the survey finds they were entitled to more,
   they have three years to file an amendment to their
   original claim.

  "Anyone who has suffered verifiable damage will be
   compensated," Hyder said. "We have accepted
   responsibility, and my job is to verify the damage
   and determine appropriate compensation."

   The leak was reported in May. The Wonju Citizens’
   Group, an environmental watchdog organization,
   said the leaking fuel was JP-8.

   Since JP-8 is not available on South Korea’s
   commercial market, complainants said it was leaking
   from Camp Long. They pointed to a 2,000-gallon
   storage tank near a generator shed at Wonju Air
   Station as the source.

   USFK and the Environment Ministry contracted a Korean
   firm to conduct pressure tests on the tank. Tests
   showed the tank was not leaking, but when the
   contractor uncovered a small pipe that connects the
   tank to the adjacent generator, an intermittent drip
   was discovered.

   That was repaired immediately, but officials said
   they could not determine how much fuel had leaked.
   They also could not determine if that was the source
   of the field’s pollution.

   No other leaks have been found. What type of fuel
   polluted the fields has not been determined, but tests
   show it is from the kerosene family. The survey is
   continuing.  

It would be great if the Korean press would report half of these actions.  Instead, the flow of Korean public thought is controlled by quotes from the anti-US civic groups.  

But this is better than the sometimes out right lies in the Korean press given as fact when they have to know better.  The Korean government is sometimes guilty of the same thing.

To end, it seems clear from the article on the civic groups pulling up stakes and moving on after USFK decided to remove all its bases from Wonju that the farmers are probably going to get screwed.

The statue of limitations under Korean law to file claims passed, and lawyers from the civic groups convinced them to take their chances in civil court, but I wonder if the lawyers hung around after their organizations left Wonju to attack US bases in other areas?

I doubt it...

I have seen in other cases where Koreans have gotten around losing in Korean court or problems of statues of limitations by trying to take cases to US courts - with little luck - but it allowed a long process that provided ample periodic quotes in the Korean press to remind Koreans of the savage crimes committed against their health by the bastard Americans.