Yokosuka mayor says he won't support
effort to block pier construction project
By Steve Liewer and Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Yokosuka Mayor Hideo Sawada said this week he will
not support the efforts of an anti-nuclear citizens group to block a construction project
at this U.S. naval base.
On May 14, a coalition of environmental and labor organizations known as Citizens’
Group Concerned About Yokosuka Becoming Home Port for U.S. Nuclear-powered Aircraft
Carriers presented Sawada with a petition bearing 72,445 names asking the city’s help
in stopping an extension of the base’s Piedmont Pier.
The group also asked the city to oppose any future basing of a nuclear aircraft carrier
in Yokosuka, currently home to the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet and the carrier USS Kitty
Hawk, one of only three non-nuclear carriers remaining in the fleet.
The signatures had been gathered from across Japan during the past 2½ years, backers
said, and 60 percent to 75 percent did not come from Yokosuka.
In a response this week, Sawada said it was too early to worry about the pier project
since Japanese authorities had not yet funded construction.
"At this time, the city has not yet discussed the project with national
government," he said in his written response. "When, however, the appropriate
time comes, we will make a decision after careful consideration."
U.S. Navy officials say the 470-foot pier extension has been planned since 1991 and is
meant to accommodate existing aircraft carriers, not necessarily the larger nuclear ones.
Sawada said he accepts that explanation.
"City of Yokosuka does not consider that the extension is aimed to prepare for a
future deployment of a nuclear-powered carrier," he said. "However, if military
activities on the base create serious negative impacts on the lives of citizens, it is my
due responsibility as mayor to take necessary actions against the U.S. or Japanese
governments to solve the problem."
Masahiko Goto, a leader of the citizens coalition, said he had hoped for a stronger
response. But he was pleased the mayor at least did not rule out future action.
"It is extremely regrettable that the mayor would not take any actions now to stop
a plan to make Yokosuka a future home port for a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft
carrier," Goto said. "However, he clearly stated in the response that he would
make a decision after careful consideration and that he would take necessary actions
should any problems arise. I think this is a favorable step forward."
Many Japanese have been wary of allowing nuclear-powered ships to dock in their ports,
and the ships that visit are closely monitored. Fearing a backlash, the United States has
not tried to base any nuclear ships in Japan. But after the Kitty Hawk’s scheduled
decommissioning in 2008, only one conventionally powered carrier will remain: the USS John
F. Kennedy, a ship with historic ties to the U.S. East Coast.
Cmdr. James Graybeal, a spokesman for U.S. Naval Forces Japan, said he could not
comment on the petition or the mayor’s response. He said the Navy has made no plans
to place a nuclear carrier in Japan.
"There’s a very formal … notification process that must happen before
there can be any ship change," Graybeal said. "There’s none of that very
formal process going on." This spring, the governor general of Guam has been pitching
the central Pacific island as a future home for a carrier battle group should Japan ever
balk at hosting it.
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