Japan Press Weekly

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2012 June 20 - 26 [OKINAWA]

3,600 citizens live in ‘Accident Potential Zones’ near Futenma Air Station

Around 3,600 citizens live in “Accident Potential Zones (APZs)” outside the Futenma Air Station (Ginowan City, Okinawa Prefecture). The U.S. Forces Japan announced the details of the APZs for the first time in a recent report.

The report is entitled “Environmental Review for Basing MV-22 Aircraft at MCAS Futenma and Operating in Japan”. The U.S. Department of Defense defines APZs for airfields as “probable impact areas if a mishap were to occur”. APZs include Clear Zones (CZs), APZ I, and APZ II sub-areas corresponding to “areas of increased accident potential and land-use planning restrictions”. In the U.S., people are prohibited from living or conducting businesses in CZs.

On the other hand, in the case of the Futenma base, there are 18 public facilities, including elementary schools, nursery schools and public meeting halls in the CZs, and 3,600 residents live in designated clear zones as of 2007.

Iha Yoichi, the former Ginowan mayor, criticized the USFJ for ignoring the fact that thousands of people live in the CZs just outside of the Futenma Air Station.

The Japanese government once said that the land use restrictions of CZs only apply to the bases in the U.S. However, the former mayor argued, the Japanese and U.S. governments agreed in the 2000 Japan Environmental Governing Standards to adopt more protective criteria in laws and regulations on USFJ bases.

“It is incredulous how the Japanese government can still insist on approving the MV-22 Osprey deployment to Futenma even after the release of this report,” said Iha.