Japan Press Weekly

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2015 June 24 - 30 [POLITICS]

Kadena Town Assembly resolves to protest noise pollution caused by F-16 fighter jets from Vermont

The Kadena Town Assembly on June 25 at its extraordinary session unanimously adopted a resolution and a statement in protest against heavy noise pollution caused by U.S. military jets from outside Okinawa.

The two documents cite the temporary deployment of 10 F-16 fighter jets of the U.S. Air Force from the State of Vermont to Kadena and the arrival of 18 FA-18 Hornet aircraft of the U.S. Marine Corps on May 27. This will impose further base burdens on Kadena Town people whose daily lives are already affected by various damages from the U.S. Kadena Air Base, such as the excessive aircraft noise and gas emissions, state the documents.

The documents demand that the U.S. forces cancel temporary deployments of U.S. military aircraft from outside Okinawa, put a halt to the arrival of U.S. Air Force military aircraft from the U.S. mainland for flight training in Kadena, and take effective noise reduction measures in line with the Japan-U.S. agreement on prevention of noise pollution.

Later on the same day, town assembly delegates, including Japanese Communist Party member Tanaka Koei (vice chair in the town assembly), handed the statement to an Okinawa Defense Bureau official.

Past related article:
> 22,058 residents in class action suit over US Kadena AB noise pollution [April 29, 2011]