Japan Press Weekly

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2013 September 25 - October 1 [US FORCES]

Installation of US missile defense radar may damage environment

The planned installation of U.S. missile defense radar to a Japan Air Self-Defense Force base in Kyoto Prefecture will possibly damage the surrounding environment, the U.S. forces’ report indicates.

A radar system could cause air pollution as it consumes 3,800 liters of fuel for the power supply for a 10-hour operation, according to an environmental assessment report the U.S. military compiled in preparation for installing a missile defense radar system in the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific.

The report also said that fuel leak accidents will be at risk because of the need to store a large amount of fuel in the base. In addition, the radar site uses 50 tons of water a day for coolant and for troops’ daily use, and waste water treatment will also be a problem.

The U.S. and Japanese governments in February this year announced that they will jointly install an AN/TPY-2 system to the Air Self-Defense Force Kyogamisaki sub base in Kyotango City. It is a U.S. X-band radar system to detect and track ballistic missile launches. Some 160 U.S. military and civilian personnel will be deployed to the site and five hectares of land adjacent to the sub base will be provided to the U.S. military.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Inoue Satoshi in June this year submitted to the Cabinet a written question demanding that an environmental assessment on the radar deployment be conducted as an adverse effect on the environment is foreseen. The central government turned down Inoue’s demand saying that it is not required under domestic law.

Toda Masaki, who heads a local anti-base group in Kyoto, said, “The environmental impact of the radar site is being assessed on the Marshall Islands, but not in Japan. This is a double standard. We demand an environmental impact assessment.”

Inoue pointed out that the U.S. military is trying to proceed with the deployment plan while hiding information regarding the possible environmental damage by the radar system. “The Japan-U.S. Security Treaty and the Status of Forces Agreement are the root cause of the current situation. They should be called into question,” the JCP lawmaker said.

Past related article:
> Kyoto residents organize to block installation of US missile defense radar site [May 24, 2013]