Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2022 October 5 - 11 [US FORCES]

Yokosuka City Assembly demands prevention of PFOS-polluted water leakage from US base

The Yokosuka City Assembly on October 4 unanimously adopted a resolution calling on the national government and the U.S. military to take measures to prevent a recurrence of leakage of water into the ocean of highly contaminated with hazardous chemicals, such as PFOS, from the U.S. Yokosuka Naval base in the city.

This action was taken in reaction to the city government’s announcement at the end of last month that sampling surveys by the U.S. military in late August detected PFOS and PFOA, which have concentrations 171 times greater than those in the Environment Ministry-set guidelines, in wastewater discharged from the Yokosuka base.

The resolution points out that despite repeated requests by the city government for the prevention of polluted water leakage, both the national government and the U.S. military have failed to take proper actions, which led to the latest discharge incident.

The city assembly in its resolution urged the state and the U.S. Naval Forces Japan to swiftly determine the causes of the hazardous water leakages, provide information to the city authorities, and implement effective measures to prevent a recurrence in order to dispel Yokosuka citizens’ worries and ensure their safety and health.

Japanese Communist Party assembly person Omura Yoko, who heads the JCP city assemblymembers’ group, said that as a party demanding prompt actions to deal with the leakage issue, the JCP welcomed the resolution.

Earlier on this day at a city assembly meeting, Omura used her question time to call on the city mayor to strongly request the U.S. military to accept an on-site investigation by the national government.

Past related article:
> Contaminated water from US Yokosuka base leaks into sea[September 15, 2022]