dioxin in Japan

[Marcia Carroll <marcia@essential.org>]

Dear Folks:
Does anyone have info on the efficacy of cleaning up a dioxin contamined
site by covering the site with soil without cleaning up underneath? A
Japanese activists writes:

>The Wakayama prefectural government has implied that they will cover
the
>contaminated site with soil without cleaning up the underground. They
>have tested the site only once with a 10m boring and six 3m borings,
not
>even reaching the bottom of the valley.  Among 23 samples taken from
>this test, two samples showed 1200 pg and 1400pg of dioxin. However,
>citing a case in the USA, they say the best measure to be taken is to
>cover the dumping site. The case cited by the government is Vertac site

>in Jacksonville, Arkansas. They say in Vertac, the soil with more than
>10,000pg of dioxin was removed and the remain was covered by
>non-contaminated soil.
>Even if this is the case, they need to continue to do necessary tests
>and I guess in Vertac, many contamination tests were done before the
>coverage.
>Would you please check this information or tell me where I can find
>relevant information?
>Naoki Ikeda
 <n-ikd@yodoyabashi-sogo.gr.jp>