Japan Press Weekly

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2016 August 10 - 16 [POLITICS]

JCP: US Osprey flight damage on ecosystem should be surveyed

The Japanese Communist Party Okinawa prefectural assemblymembers’ group on August 12 petitioned the prefectural government to investigate into the extent to which U.S. Osprey flights will damage Okinawa’s ecosystem.

Based on information that bats have disappeared from areas where flight drills of MV-22 Osprey aircraft are frequently taking place, the JCP assemblymembers’ group has conducted a survey in Ginowan City which hosts the U.S. Futenma Air Station, Ginoza Village which hosts U.S. Camp Hansen, and the Takae district in Higashi Village where the U.S. Norther Training Area is located.

In response to a JCP inquiry, a Ginowan resident said that after the stationing of Ospreys at the Futenma base began in 2013, bats are no longer seen in residential areas. Residents of Higashi and Ginoza villages also told the JCP that the more flight drills were held, the less bats they saw.

In the petition, JCP assemblymembers’ group head Toguchi Osamu pointed out the possibility that animals and birds, including endangered species, will be affected by flights of the U.S. tilt-rotor aircraft. He demanded that the prefecture survey the impact on humans as well as on wildlife from the excessive noise and low-frequency waves generated by Ospreys and collect information about the impact from residents as well as from environmental experts.

A prefectural government official in response promised to conduct on-site research and other investigations.

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In 2012 in Hawaii, an environmental impact assessment report showed that Osprey flights will affect wildlife, especially bats, which led to the suspension of the aircraft’s flight training exercises at two locations.