November 7, 2016
A geology expert in an Akahata interview said that the Tokyo Metropolitan government should cancel its plan to relocate the Tsukiji fish market to a former chemical plant site tainted with pollution based on the precautionary principle.
Akahata on November 7 carried the interview with Sakamaki Yukio, a former vice president of the Japan Association of Environmental Studies.
In the interview, Sakamaki pointed out that as Tokyo Gas used to produce city gas from coal in the planned market site in the Toyosu district, the soil and groundwater at the site were contaminated with toxic by-products, such as benzene, cyanide, arsenic, and mercury.
In order to make the Toyosu site usable for a fish market, the Tokyo Metropolitan government’s expert panel in 2008 proposed that the government remove a 2-meter thick layer of surface soil from the site and then cover the surface with a 4.5-meter layer of fresh soil. Sakamaki said that he has criticized the measure as insufficient since 2008.
Sakamaki went on to say that JCP members of the metropolitan assembly in September revealed that the Tokyo government had neglected to properly implement the proposed measure in areas where the main buildings are located. Following this revelation, retests of groundwater detected high levels of benzene and arsenic exceeding the national government-set environmental standards.
The government was supposed to keep the groundwater level at the site low so that the polluted water will not soak into the fresh soil layer. However in reality, Sakamaki noted, the water level was found to be high enough to reach the layer, which strongly suggests that the fresh soil was already contaminated. He stated that it is only a matter of time before toxic chemicals will be found in the replaced soil.
Sakamaki stated that the Toyosu site is totally unfit for a food market. He urged the metropolitan government to adopt the relocation precautionary principle and be sufficiently cautious about the project which may cause serious hazards to human health and the environment even if the causal relationship has yet to be proved. He said that the relocation project should be cancelled as proposed also by the JCP.
Past related articles:
> JCP Tokyo calls for cancellation of Tsukiji fish market relocation to Toyosu [October 5, 2016]
> Academics urge Tokyo Metropolitan Government to give up relocation of Tsukiji market [August 21, 2008]
Akahata on November 7 carried the interview with Sakamaki Yukio, a former vice president of the Japan Association of Environmental Studies.
In the interview, Sakamaki pointed out that as Tokyo Gas used to produce city gas from coal in the planned market site in the Toyosu district, the soil and groundwater at the site were contaminated with toxic by-products, such as benzene, cyanide, arsenic, and mercury.
In order to make the Toyosu site usable for a fish market, the Tokyo Metropolitan government’s expert panel in 2008 proposed that the government remove a 2-meter thick layer of surface soil from the site and then cover the surface with a 4.5-meter layer of fresh soil. Sakamaki said that he has criticized the measure as insufficient since 2008.
Sakamaki went on to say that JCP members of the metropolitan assembly in September revealed that the Tokyo government had neglected to properly implement the proposed measure in areas where the main buildings are located. Following this revelation, retests of groundwater detected high levels of benzene and arsenic exceeding the national government-set environmental standards.
The government was supposed to keep the groundwater level at the site low so that the polluted water will not soak into the fresh soil layer. However in reality, Sakamaki noted, the water level was found to be high enough to reach the layer, which strongly suggests that the fresh soil was already contaminated. He stated that it is only a matter of time before toxic chemicals will be found in the replaced soil.
Sakamaki stated that the Toyosu site is totally unfit for a food market. He urged the metropolitan government to adopt the relocation precautionary principle and be sufficiently cautious about the project which may cause serious hazards to human health and the environment even if the causal relationship has yet to be proved. He said that the relocation project should be cancelled as proposed also by the JCP.
Past related articles:
> JCP Tokyo calls for cancellation of Tsukiji fish market relocation to Toyosu [October 5, 2016]
> Academics urge Tokyo Metropolitan Government to give up relocation of Tsukiji market [August 21, 2008]
