Court orders state to pay 2.75 billion yen to compensate for U.S. base noise

A court has ordered the Japanese government to pay 2.75 billion yen (22 million dollars) to almost all 4,951 plaintiffs in compensation for their sufferings from noise caused by military aircraft at a U.S. military base in Kanagawa Prefecture.

The lawsuit was the third such lawsuit over noise from U.S. Atsugi Naval Air Station, and the amount of compensation money ordered by the court is the largest of the four major military base noise lawsuits in Japan.

The Yokohama District Court's presiding judge on October 16 ruled that levels of noise are terrible and exceeding the bearable limits. The judge also recognized that the base is established and run by the Japanese government under illegal conditions.

The court rejected the government demand for a reduction in compensation to those who later moved in knowing of the problem from the base. The court said that it is difficult for people to get a precise understanding of the situation of the noise in advance.

Residents in Yamato and Ayase cities hosting the Atsugi base said that intense flight training exercises continue from early morning till midnight and that they can't hear telephones and TV. From January to September 2002, the surrounding municipalities received 4,298 calls from residents complaining and protesting.

At the Atsugi base, the U.S. forces are planning to have nighttime touch-and-goes called "night-landing practices" (NLPs) by U.S. carrier-borne aircraft for three days from October 20.

Akahata of October 17 said that the latest district court ruling points to the government responsibility for having done nothing about the illegal state of the U.S. base. (end)