December 21 & 24, 2024

The Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Assemblymembers’ Group on December 23 made representations to Governor Koike Yuriko, demanding that PFAS on-site investigations under the initiative of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) be conducted at the U.S. Yokota Air Base.

The 19-member JCP group demanded that on-site surveys and sample collection be carried out in consultation with the Japanese government, the TMG, and surrounding cities and towns, not by the U.S. authorities alone.

The group stressed the need for metropolitan assemblypersons, in accordance with a SOFA supplementary agreement on the environment, to enter the base to monitor the on-site investigations and sample collection process as well as the need to make public all information pertaining to survey results to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly and the people of Tokyo.

A TMG official said in response, “The TMG will cooperate with local municipalities to enact necessary measures.”

It is highly probable that water containing carcinogenic PFAS was leaked out of the Yokota AB at the end of August. A total of 1,620 nanograms per liter of PFOS and PFOA were detected, which is 32 times greater than the grossly inadequate government-set guideline and 405 times the U.S. allowable limit.

On December 20, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of the Environment visited the base for an on-site investigation. According to the Defense Ministry, they inspected the site in the presence of the TMG and six nearby municipalities (cities of Fussa, Tachikawa, Hamura, Musashimurayama, Akishima, and Mizuho Town).

Past related article:
> US military admits to leakage of PFAS at US Yokota AB [October 8, 2024]