U.S. forces dumped ammunition into reservoir in Okinawa

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U.S. forces dumped ammunition into reservoir in Okinawa

It was revealed that U.S. forces have dumped ammunition into two dam reservoirs in northern Okinawa.

The ammunition was first discovered on January 5 at Fukuji Dam by Okinawa General Bureau North Dam Integrated Control Office staff.

The Okinawa Prefectural Police and the Self-Defense Forces have collected from Fukuji Dam and Arakawa Dam, both located in Higashi Village, a total of 8,000 bullets, including paint bullets, blank rifle cartridges, flare bombs, and used grenades.

Most of the ammunition was collected beneath a bridge that U.S. forces are using in their war games or downstream of the bridge.

Based on an on-site survey conducted on January 19, Japanese Communist Party Dietmember Akamine Seiken on January 22 visited the Naha Defense Facilities Administration Bureau, demanding that U.S. forces discontinue training exercises in areas surrounding these lakes.

Akamine requested the bureau to cancel the designation of the dam areas as a zone which U.S. forces can use. The bureau director, however, rejected this by saying that the agency is responsible for providing U.S. forces with places suitable for U.S. needs.

The agency's position goes against even the 1996 Japan-U.S. Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO) agreement that set out a policy to cancel the U.S. use of Fukuji Dam.

Isa Masatsugu, the JCP Higashi Village Branch chair who took part in this action said, "It is completely unacceptable that U.S. forces continue their training at the dam site and contaminate the source of Okinawa's water supply. It is extremely humiliating to allow U.S. forces to freely use the area."

On January 17, the Okinawa Prefectural Government submitted to the U.S. forces a request to investigate this case and take measures to prevent a recurrence.

In 1988, U.S. troops conducted training to cross the Fukuji Dam lake, and the Okinawa Prefectural Government and local residents protested. Although U.S. forces have refrained from conducting trainings exercises on the surface of the lake since then, the area still remains as a training site for jungle combat.
- Akahata, January 23, 2007