Ignored Illegal Waste Dumps In Japan Threaten Environment, Kindergarteners

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"Principal Reiko Kaneko came to work at the kindergarten nine years ago to get away from the noise of the city. Three years later, she received a letter from the mother of one of the children, saying the woman was concerned about the possible illegal dumping of industrial waste in the mountains and that the children might be in danger unless it stopped soon. Kaneko herself was worried about the seemingly endless fleets of trucks traveling into the mountains and showed the letter to the city government, requesting an investigation.

It was not until this March, however, that police investigated the disposal company that had dumped industrial waste in the woods about 260 meters from the kindergarten. Although the waste handler had permission only to burn trash, it had been collecting construction waste from such regions as Tokai and Kinki for more than 10 years and incinerated some of it in the open air. After clearing an area of woodland, it had buried the ashes, which had a volume of more than 500,000 cubic meters. The waste reached a depth of 50 meters below ground. After the case became public, Gifu Mayor Shigemitsu Hosoe and senior city officials went to the kindergarten to apologize. But Kaneko says that when she pointed out the city should have acted on her request upon receiving her letter years before, a senior official became evasive, saying they had no record of having received such a letter.

But that's not to say the city did nothing during the six years since Kaneko sent her letter. Having heard many complaints from residents, it had issued official instructions to the waste handler on 55 occasions and conducted on-the-spot inspections. But city officials failed to take further action when told by the operator that what it had buried was earth and sand. ``The officials suspected possible illegal dumping,'' says deputy mayor Hiroki Onozaki. ``It was because of their lack of understanding that they didn't take action.'' But the city officials in question have another story. ``I was afraid of the waste handler, who shouted and took a threatening attitude,'' says one. ``Also, there was a politician backing the handler.''

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In fiscal 2002, 934 cases of illegal dumping of industrial waste were discovered, amounting to 318,000 tons. One cubic meter is equal to one ton of waste, according to the Environment Ministry. About 60 percent of the waste was construction waste, such as rubble and woodchips, followed by plastics and sludge. Although those who dispose of waste are responsible for removing it, this often proves difficult to enforce because dumpers cannot afford the removal costs or the culprit is unknown. Across the country, 11.4 million tons of waste remains at 2,522 sites where it was illegally dumped. By prefecture, Chiba Prefecture has the largest amount of waste remaining, with 3.9 million tons, while Toyama Prefecture has no waste.

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http://www.asahi.com/english/lifestyle/TKY200409250124.html