Work proceeds on dismantling
of controversial Atsugi incinerator
By Fred Knapp, Stars and
Stripes
Fred Knapp / Stars and Stripes
The former Enviro-Tech incinerator near Atsugi, seen from one of the high-rises formerly
in the path of its smoke, is now being disassembled. |
ATSUGI NAVAL AIR FACILITY, Japan — For years, the smokestacks of the Enviro-Tech
incinerator spewed toxic smoke onto the base, creating a health hazard and irritating
relations between the United States and Japan.
Today, all that appears to be a fading memory, as work proceeds on dismantling the
controversial incinerator. The government of Japan purchased the facility this spring,
with the express purpose of shutting it down.
"So far, what they’ve laid out has happened pretty much on the timeline they
laid out," said Bryan Murphy, Atsugi’s program manager for dealing with the
incinerator, which is sometimes still referred to as the Shinkampo incinerator.
The Japanese government announced April 20 that it was buying the incinerator from
owner Tetsuro Murata for about $40 million, and would spend about another $7 million to
dismantle it by the end of the year.
The incinerator, which burned about 50 percent industrial waste including solvents,
acids, alkalis, infectious medical waste and oils, and 50 percent municipal waste, shut
down May 1, said Murphy, who is also an environmental engineer.
That was a big relief to Victoria Martin, who lives in an on-base apartment about a
quarter-mile from the incinerator.
"The summer’s been a whole lot more pleasant because the thing’s been
shut down," she said.
Her children can now play outside and go to the swimming pool without getting sick,
Martin said. Her 3 ½-year-old daughter, Essie, has not suffered the same "mystery
fevers" and skin problems that she used to.
"I would have to say that it has gotten better," Martin declared.
"There’s been a major difference. It’s quite liberating."
At the nearby Child Development Center, where children used to be kept indoors when the
wind was blowing the wrong way, they are allowed outdoors again, Murphy said.
Readings from air quality instruments at two locations on base and one in the nearby
Ayase Industrial Park show that the level of dioxins — chemical compounds which can
cause cancer — have declined to 0.2 picograms (trillionths of a gram) per cubic meter
of air, well below the Japanese environmental standard of 0.6.
By contrast, readings during a 56-day measuring period in 1999 averaged 6.6 picograms
per cubic meter, and at one point topped 50 picograms per cubic meter, by far the highest
recorded level in Japan, Murphy said.
In the last decade, the Navy and other branches of the U.S. government tried to stop
the pollution. Two years ago, the Navy filed a lawsuit against Enviro-Tech for allowing
the incinerator to continue operations.
Enviro-Tech maintained that the pollution being recorded could be coming from any of a
number of incinerators in the area. The drop in dioxin levels since May shows the
company’s argument was wrong, Murphy said.
Enviro-Tech officials could not be reached for comment.
After the incinerator shut down, large piles of compost, solvents, and other waste were
moved off the site, Murphy said.
Japan’s Defense Facilities Administration Bureau contracted with
Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries to do the dismantling work. A spokesman for the
company said he was not prepared to comment on its work so far.
In June, workers began cleaning ash and other contaminated residue from the outside
surfaces and removed some uncontaminated equipment, Murphy said. Before breaking open
contaminated equipment, such as filters and ducts, they enclosed the structure in August,
building a framework of metal tubing around the incinerator and covering it with
lightweight green panels, sealed with tape.
"I was very impressed that they covered the thing," Martin said, adding the
covering prevented pollutants from being released into the air.
Storm drains from the plant site to the nearby Tabe River were blocked, and wastewater
treatment equipment was installed. The plan calls for incinerator components to be washed
and chopped or shredded, with contaminated water treated on site.
Although the Tabe River runs through the base, the incinerator is downstream from
Atsugi. And the groundwater that supplies the base drinking water also flows from the base
toward the incinerator, Murphy said.
"The contamination of the Tabe River … is not anything that will affect the
base," he said. "There’s no evidence of contaminants in the groundwater
from the incinerator, and there never has been."
The Defense Facilities Administration Bureau schedule calls for dismantling to be
complete by Dec. 15.
After that, "they’ll take that enclosure down, and we should see nothing but
a concrete slab" where the incinerator used to be, Murphy said.
But that won’t be the end of Enviro-Tech’s presence next to the base.
Murphy said the company intends to keep operating a facility — which mashes
plastic and paper into fuel pellets — next to the former incinerator. However, he
said, no burning will take place.
"That’s part of the contract with the government of Japan that they will no
longer operate an incinerator on that site," he said. "There probably will not
be anything coming out of there that would concern us, except possibly noise.
"But we’ll have to wait and see," he said.
Naoko Sekioka contributed to this report.
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