From left to right: Ro Manabe, director of the Okinawa Defense Bureau of the Ministry of Defense; Kunio Arakaki, mayor of Kitanakagusuku; and Mikio Shimoji, member of the House of the Representatives in the Diet, view U.S.-made 155 m/m bombshells unearthed at the site of the former military-owned Awase Meadows Golf Course at Kitanakagusuku. The defense bureau escorted Okinawa officials and media to the site - following the discovery of more than 8,900 rounds of various munitions. The 115-acre military property was returned to Japan in August 2010. (Matt Orr/Stars and Stripes)
From left to right: Ro Manabe, director of the Okinawa Defense Bureau of the Ministry of Defense; Kunio Arakaki, mayor of Kitanakagusuku; and Mikio Shimoji, member of the House of the Representatives in the Diet, view U.S.-made 155 m/m bombshells unearthed at the site of the former military-owned Awase Meadows Golf Course at Kitanakagusuku. The defense bureau escorted Okinawa officials and media to the site - following the discovery of more than 8,900 rounds of various munitions. The 115-acre military property was returned to Japan in August 2010. (Matt Orr/Stars and Stripes)
Ro Manabe, second from left, director of the Okinawa Defense Bureau of the Ministry of Defense, escorts officials and media to the former military-owned Awase Meadows Golf Course following the discovery of more than 8,900 rounds of various munitions. Environmental clean-up presents a major stumbling block for redeveloping former military land. (Matt Orr/Stars and Stripes)
From left, Ro Manabe, director of the Okinawa Defense Bureau of the Ministry of Defense; Kunio Arakaki, mayor of Kitanakagusuku; and Mikio Shimoji, member of the House of Representatives in the Diet, view U.S.-made 155 mm bombshells unearthed at the site of the former military-owned Awase Meadows Golf Course at Kitanakagusuku. The 115-acre military property was returned to Japan in August 2010. (Matt Orr/Stars and Stripes)
Ro Manabe, third from left, director of the Okinawa Defense Bureau of the Ministry of Defense, escorts Okinawa officials and media to the site of the former military-owned Awase Meadows Golf Course following the discovery of more than 8,900 rounds of various munitions. Environmental clean-up is a major stumbling block host communities face for redevelopment of former military land. (Matt Orr/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — The United States and Japan have agreed to set up a working group to discuss opening U.S. military installations to Japanese officials for environmental surveys, the Ministry of Defense said this week.
Japanese communities hosting U.S. bases have long demanded that the military clean up environmental damages before returning bases back to Japan. Under the current U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement, the United States assumes no obligation for environmental restoration when it returns property.
On Okinawa, toxic substances are often unearthed when military land is returned to its original owners. In the past few months, more than 8,900 rounds of various munitions were discovered in the former U.S. Marine’s Awase Meadows Golf Course. On a former Camp Lester site that was returned to Japan in 2003, various toxic substances continue to be uncovered. In August, asbestos and lead were found in the ground during redevelopment construction, the Okinawa prefectural government’s Military Land Reutilization Task Team said Friday.
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa informed Okinawa officials earlier this week of the agreement reached between Washington and Tokyo in May, according to ministry spokeswoman Miho Mouri.
“Coordination is currently under way between the United States and Japan for the details of the working group, including when to start the newly formed panel and who are the members,” she said.
U.S. Forces Japan officials Friday referred queries to the Department of Defense.
Under the Green Alliance pact that was agreed on in May, both governments will consider reasonable access to U.S. installations in cases of environmental incidents, or for environmental surveys prior to land being returned, Mouri said.
Okinawa officials were pleased over the move.
“We welcome talks to begin over the issue between U.S. and Japanese governments,” said Susumu Matayoshi, director of the Executive Office of Governor of Okinawa. “What we have been asking is to allow us access and to take (air, soil or water) samples, the same procedures as prescribed under Japan’s environmental law.”
