February 27, 2015
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2015 February 25 - March 3 [US FORCES]
Residents near US radar base complain of low-frequency noise |
A group of residents of Kyotango City in Kyoto on February 26 urged the Kyoto prefectural government to request the U.S. military to temporarily halt the use of its six large-size generators which are believed to cause the noise. The group also called for noise measurement tests and a health impact study to be carried out.
A resident said, “It is the local governments’ responsibility to protect residents’ health. The Kyoto prefectural government should conduct a noise survey along with a health hazard survey and should ask for the halt of generator use at the base in the meantime.”
The U.S. forces deploy a ballistic missile detection/tracking radar system, known as X-band radar, at the Kyogamisaki Communication Site. The radar base is still under construction but the use of the system began on a full scale late last year.
A majority of the surrounding residents were opposed to the construction of this base in the first place. The Defense Ministry in the early morning of May 27 in 2014 forcibly started construction work without giving any prior explanation to the prefecture, the city, or the residents. It was only one day before the groundbreaking when the nearby residents knew about it.
Before dawn on October 27 last year, the X-band radar equipment utilizing high-power electromagnetic waves was transported to the base without letting the residents know about it.
Beneath the base site, a marine cave exists which the Kyoto prefectural government has on its Red List of protected sites. An endangered species of falcons inhabits the vicinity, and an area around the site is a quasi-national park.
Past related article:
> Kyoto residents protest sudden transport of US military radar equipment [October 22, 2014]
> Local residents don’t want US military base to be built in Kyoto [October 5, 2014]
> US forcibly begins X-radar construction in Kyoto [May 28, 2014]
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