The Vulcanus, with its crew of 18 foreign nationals and the load of HO from Gulfport, Mississippi, arrived at Johnston Atoll on July 10, 1977. Naval Construction Battalion (Seabee) Base at Gulfport, Mississippi transferred 800,000 gallons of Herbicide Orange from the stored drums to rail tank cars, which were subsequently transferred to the Vulcanus at the dock. įrom May to June 1977, Air Force personnel from the five Combat Logistics Support Squadrons (CLSS) on Temporary Duty at the U.S. Modification of the redrumming facility, installation of needed utilities and communications, and requisitioning/positioning of logistics support (i.e., R-5 refuelers, forklifts, personnel protective equipment) were accomplished in May and June in preparation for the re-drumming operation. On April 26, 1977, the EPA issued a research permit to burn the 15,000 drums of HO from Gulfport, Mississippi, during July 1977. While the TCDD was successfully removed, the resultant filters created a disposal problem beyond current technology. They were transferred to Johnston Atoll on December 8, 1976, and were stored in Bunker 785 while awaiting final disposition. The twelve cylindrical filters used at Gulfport, Mississippi, contained approximately 13 grams of the contaminant TCDD. As a part of the effort to dispose of the HO stored at Johnston Atoll and Gulfport, Mississippi, an attempt was made to filter out the 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-dioxin (TCDD), using filters of coconut charcoal so that the Agents could be re-used or re-sold. The redrumming activity began on September 30, 1974. Work was then completed on the drum crusher and work area at Johnston Atoll for the transfer of HO from 55-gallon drums to an R-5 refueler truck, and later for transfer to the incinerator ship. Operation Pacer IVY (InVentorY) was an associated the United States Department of Defense mission to inventory, collect, consolidate, re-drum, remove from the Southeast Asian theater, and store Agent Orange.ĭisposal of the Herbicide Orange under Operation Pacer HO was to begin in the fall of 1974, but because of various delays by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Air Force budget limitation, disposal was postponed until the fall of 1976. "HO" was an abbreviation of Herbicide Orange (HO). Air Force that incinerated the Agent Orange stored at Johnston Atoll aboard the Dutch-owned ship M/T Vulcanus in 1977. The drums are marked orange rings for AO, white rings for Agent White, and blue rings for Agent Blue.Operation Pacer HO was a 1977 operation of the U.S. I have two pictures that I want you to look at,1 is the field after we sprayed and the other is one of the yards with the drums AO and AW. We did used a vehicle most of the time a truck with a sprayer in the back, but you had to hold the sprayer by hand. We loaded helicopters only when we were making a new supply yard and I have a picture that shows a field after we sprayed it. The planes were kc 130’s and 135’s cargo planes, Almost all the planes were going to Vietnam some were going to OKINAWA, THAILAND. Cross island fuel pipeline that I sprayed with Agent orange, agent white and agent blue from sept 1968 to jun 1978īlue Ribbon Panel Committee Action Report