Clark Toxic Aftermath

When Mt Pinatubo erupted in June 1991, the Americans were forced to evacuate Clark Air Base after volcanic dust, ash fall and lahars rendered its runaways useless and endangered the operations of its planes. After the withdrawal of the U.S. Air Force, the base was converted into a Special Economic Zone and the nightmare of toxic contamination began to surface. Some 20.000 poor families were relocated in Clark in a place called CABCOM, or Clark Air Base Command. They were unaware however, that CABCOM used to be a motor pool of the U.S. 13th Air Force assigned at Clark. Asbestos and industrial waste had been buried in landfills.