Japan Press Weekly

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2012 December 19 - 25 [OKINAWA]

Defense ministry again abruptly submits EIA over base construction

The Defense Ministry on December 18 again abruptly submitted to the Okinawa prefectural government supplementary documents on the environmental impact assessment for the construction of a new U.S. base in the Henoko district of Nago City.

At the end of 2011, in order to avoid facing the fierce protest from Okinawan people opposing the submission of the EIA, defense ministry officials had boxes of EIA documents carried into the prefectural office’s security guards’ room before dawn.

This time, the ministry delivered the EIA documents to the prefecture with just five minutes’ notice.

The submitted documents include some touch-ups and additional survey results in response to comments from the governor about the previous EIA regarding various issues such as noise pollution.

The latest EIA provides data indicating the construction’s negative impact on the environment. The expected level of noise pollution from military aircraft, for example, is worse than the previous EIA after reexamination based on the current operational status of the Futenma base.

Nonetheless, the Defense Ministry insists that it will take measures to protect the environment when the base construction starts.


Past related articles
> 17 leading Okinawans jointly oppose US base at Henoko[December 20, 2011]
> Nago assembly protests submission of EIA over base construction[January 14, 2012]