Government has finally released a report into the safety of land at the former baselands at Southside where Agent Orange was allegedly dumped and burned.

For more than two months, campaigners have been calling for the document to be made public so residents can see for themselves what method was used testing soil at Kindley Air Force Base and the results it produced.

However, until it was tabled in the House of Assembly last Friday, the Ministry of Works and Engineering has ignored or rejected all requests to release Bermuda Water Consultants' report.

The Ministry commissioned the review last June after US Army veteran Ronald Slater alleged the lethal defoliant, now said to cause horrific disfigurements and serious illness to those exposed to it, was disposed at the baselands in the 1960s. BWC's conclusion was: "Results do not suggest the presence of dioxin or Agent Orange to be a health risk."

Mr. Slater has said Agent Orange was poured into deep pits before being burned for days, sending thick smoke over St. David's homes.

BWC picked out 15 sites in the Southside area, and used a garden spade to collect a sample from the top ten centimetres of each site. Samples were then placed into glass jars before being shipped to A.L.S. Laboratory Group in Canada, which analysed them.

In a statement in the House on Friday, Works Minister Derrick Burgess said: "The allegation that Agent Orange had been left in Bermuda was taken very seriously by the Government. Our response was prompt and appropriate."

Mr. Burgess said his predecessor Dennis Lister had directed Mr. Slater's allegations be "researched and the findings reported to him at the earliest possible time".

He continued: "It is significant to note that, upon the closure of the United States bases in Bermuda in 1995, extensive environmental testing of the baselands was completed.

"The testing undertaken at that time aggressively sought to determine whether or not Agent Orange, among other contaminants, was present. No appreciable levels of Agent Orange were found at that time.

"I am pleased to inform the members of this honourable House and the people of Bermuda generally that the BWC report confirmed the findings of 13 years earlier: there was no appreciable levels of Agent Orange to be found."

He added: "The commissioning of the BWC report is further evidence of the Government's commitment to ensure that the former baselands are environmentally safe — that is: free of agents that may be injurious to health or which may otherwise impede development in those areas."

The Royal Gazette's A Right To Know: Giving People Power campaign is calling for public access to information and for Government to release reports which are in the public interest. Since Mr. Lister announced the test results in December, this newspaper has been asking to see the report without success.

St. David's resident Gregory Fox has also been calling for the report amid concerns about potential health effects of burning toxic waste on himself, his family and his neighbours.

"If they won't release the report freely, we will get a petition and go from there," said Mr. Fox previously. "It's going to create a big stink like it was back in the day."