A Japanese area has been exposed for concealing excessive levels of chemical substances in domestic water | US military | ground cover
On the 28th, the Minamoto City Government in Gifu Prefecture, Japan admitted that a domestic water source in the area had been tested for excessive levels of organic fluorine compounds three years ago, with the highest exceeding the limit by nearly 16 times.
According to reports from Japanese media such as the Gifu News website, in November 2020, the water in the Mitsui water source area located in Mitsui Higashi cho, Kawahara City was found to have excessive levels of organic fluorine compounds. However, the city government has not disclosed this to the public, and some of the excess water is still being supplied to citizens. In May 2021, authorities inspected all 13 wells in the water source area of Sanjing, among which 7 wells had excessive levels of organic fluorine compounds, with the highest exceeding the limit by 11 times. In November 2022, the organic fluorine compound content in a well was detected to exceed the standard by 15.8 times.
On June 29th, people walked on the streets of Shibuya in Tokyo, Japan. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Xiaoyu
Four wells with severe exceeding standards have been discontinued, but the remaining nine wells have still exceeded the organic fluorine compound content since April last year and continue to supply water to about half of the citizens and over 70000 people.
The municipal government stated that there have been no reports of excessive organic fluorine compounds causing harm to human health in water. They have started to promote the design of water quality purification facilities and are currently considering using activated carbon as an emergency purification method.
On the 28th, Vice Mayor Jigu Jun of Minamoto City apologized at a press conference for not disclosing the excessive content of organic fluorine compounds for a long time, stating that the city government had "insufficient understanding" and "although there was no obligation to disclose the test results, it should have been done this way.".
This is a photo taken on June 19, 2022 in Tokyo, Japan, from the US military's Yokota base. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Xiaoyu
Organic fluorine compounds are difficult to degrade and accumulate in the environment and human body, commonly referred to as "permanent chemicals". Some medical experts said that if a large amount of water polluted by such substances is drunk for a long time, it may affect reproductive health and children's growth and development, causing breast cancer cancer, prostate cancer and other diseases.
The original municipal government stated that it is unclear why the organic fluorine compounds in the Sanjing water source exceed the standard. This water source is located west of the Gifu Base of the Japan Air Self Defense Force, and the organic fluorine compound leakage pollution incident from the US military base in Japan is fermenting.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced on the 5th that there were three incidents of foam fire extinguishing agent leakage containing organic fluorine compounds at the Yokota base of the US military in the Tama area of Tokyo from 2010 to 2012. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government and local governments around the base are requesting more detailed information from the Japanese central government. On the 14th, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyoshi Matsuno admitted to the existence of the aforementioned incident at a press conference. The US military does not acknowledge the leakage of fire extinguishing agents outside the base.
On April 9, 2013, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo, Japan, a staff member guarded the entrance. Shen Jizhong
On the 28th, Defense Minister Yasuki Hamada admitted at a press conference that the Ministry of Defense had been informed of a leak of US fire extinguishing agents since 2019, but it took four years to inform local governments such as Tokyo. According to the Japanese Ministry of Defense, the main reasons for the delayed announcement include the need for time to coordinate with the US military, changes in personnel related to the Ministry of Defense, and inadequate handover between responsible persons.
Seventeen regions in Tokyo have detected excessive levels of organic fluorine compounds in groundwater, and over half of the residents in Tama have abnormal blood test results.
In addition to Tokyo, more than ten prefectures in Japan have also detected excessive concentrations of organic fluorine compounds, including Okinawa Prefecture, which has the highest number of US troops stationed in Japan. The latest investigation by the Okinawa Prefectural Government shows that water bodies around 30 locations around the US military base in Okinawa have been detected to exceed the standard of organic fluorine compounds. A survey released by a citizen group in the county in February this year showed that about 40% of residents around the US military base in Okinawa had abnormal blood test results.
