Japan Press Weekly

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2021 August 25 - 31 [US FORCES]

Okinawa governor protests against discharge of PFOS-contaminated wastewater by US military

Okinawa Governor Tamaki Denny on August 26 at a press conference in the prefectural office building expressed his strong protest to the discharge of wastewater containing the harmful chemical PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate) from the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station into the public sewage system in Ginowan City.

According to the prefectural government, the level of PFOS in the discharged water was 2.7 nanograms per liter. (The national government’s provisional permissive level is 50 nanograms per liter.)

At around 9 a.m. on the day, the prefectural government was notified by the U.S. military that it will release PFOS-contaminated wastewater from the Futenma base. Soon after the notification, the prefectural authority requested the suspension of the release.

Explaining the reason for the discharge of PFOS-tainted wastewater into the local sewage system, the U.S. military said that this is less costly than the use of disposal companies for thermal treatment of PFOS.

At the press conference, Governor Tamaki pointed out that the U.S. military unilaterally carried out the discharge in defiance of a scheduled meeting between the national and prefectural governments and the USMC to discuss ways to treat PFOS-tainted wastewater. The governor said that it is unacceptable for the U.S. military to take a “no problem” attitude on the grounds that the PFOS level in the emitted water was below the national government-set limit.