US Ambassador to Japan Foley wants incinerator shut down

[John Visher <visherjc@crisscross.com>]

http://www.pstripes.com/edsu.html

Pacific Stars and Stripes

Sunday, November 14, 1999

              Foley wants incinerator shut down

              U.S. ambassador to Japan asks officials to
              control dioxin emissions near Atsugi Naval
              Air Facility.

              By David Allen
              Stripes Staff Writer

              U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas S. Foley on Friday
              asked that an incinerator near Atsugi Naval Air Facility
be
              closed until dangerous emissions are controlled.

              For years, the incinerator, operated by Enviro-Tech and
              located adjacent to the military base, has spewed
              dangerous levels of dioxin into the air, posing a serious
              health risk to anyone living or working nearby, U.S.
              officials claim.

              Preliminary data from a joint study of emissions by U.S.
              and Japanese investigators showed the incinerator churns
              out as much as 58 picograms of dioxin per cubic meter of
              air. Japanese agencies consider anything above 0.8
              picograms (less than one-trillionth of a gram) as unsafe.

              Dioxin is a carcinogen formed when plastics and other
              compounds are burned at low temperatures. Japanese
              officials have asked the plant to install filters to
screen some
              hazardous material from exhaust, and to use
              100-meter-high smokestacks.

              Enviro-Tech has long fought the proposed changes, saying
              a dust-collecting system the company was considering was
              sufficient to screen out hazardous materials. The company
              also rejected the idea of 100 meter-high smokestacks.

              Foley, meeting with Kanagawa Gov. Hiroshi Okazaki and
              a delegation of local mayors and officials Friday,
reviewed
              the results of the joint monitoring of emissions from the
              incinerator.

              "The results confirm what the American government has
              said for years: Enviro-tech (formerly Jinkampo) is
releasing
              levels of dioxin far in excess of what is acceptable - by
any
              standard," said a statement from the U.S. Embassy.

              Foley stressed that the incinerator remains a health
threat to
              anyone living near the incinerator.

              "The ambassador called on the governor to take urgent
              steps now to force Enviro-Tech to immediately eliminate
its
              dangerous emissions, and to more rigorously monitor
              Enviro-Tech to ensure it can never again threaten the
health
              of its Japanese and American neighbors," the Embassy
              news release stated. "Until such a system is implemented,
              the ambassador asked Governor Okazaki to shut down the
              incinerator."

              Okazaki had no comment on the ambassador's request
              Friday.

              During the meeting, Okazaki presented a petition to Foley
              asking that all night practice landings at Atsugi be moved

              permanently to Iwo Jima, and that demonstrations flights
              during Atsugi's annual open house be canceled.

              Foley said the Navy has reduced night flights at Atsugi
by,
              "dramatically increasing" its use of the Japan Air
              Self-Defense Force's airfield on Iwo Jima.

              "Despite the distance, safety concerns and unacceptability

              of Iwo Jima as a permanent site for night landing
practice,
              the Navy manages to perform the majority of its night
              landing practice away from Atsugi, considerably lowering
              noise level there," the embassy statement said.

              Foley assured the governor that "safety is the number one
              priority" during demonstration flights at the popular open

              house events, which draw large crowds of Japanese.