Japan Press Weekly

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2012 January 25 - 31 [OKINAWA]

Okinawans criticize EIA report for US base construction on Henoko

Okinawans on January 27 called for environmental impact assessments to be redone on the planned construction of a new U.S. base in Henoko, Nago City.

They were participants in a public hearing hosted by an expert panel to the Okinawan governor on the environmental impact assessment.

A woman from Uruma City said, “Everytime U.S. military helicopters fly over, my three-year-old grandchild is scared of the noise. Why can’t Japan say anything about the U.S. forces’ operations?”

Hanawa Shin’ichi, former chief of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Japan, criticized the fact that the government’s drilling survey in the offshore area of Henoko adversely affected the endangered species of dugong. “The report narrowly interprets the survey results and underestimates the environment impact. This is a truly unscientific assessment report,” he said.

Abe Mariko, heading the Okinawa Reef Check and Research Group, condemned the report as unscientifically concluding that the impact on the coral reel would be minor.

Lawyer Kanetaka Nozomi proposed that the governor request the assessment be redone based on an existing prefectural ordinance.