Japan protests against US Marines dumping water containing dangerous chemicals in Okinawa’s local sewage system
- Japan’s environment minister said it was ‘extremely regrettable’ that US Marines unilaterally dumped the water despite discussions still taking place
- US military notified prefecture government less than an hour before going ahead with releasing the water
“It is extremely regrettable that [US Marines] unilaterally dumped the water despite discussions still taking place between Japan and the United States on how to deal with the water,” Shinjiro Koizumi said at a press conference on Friday.
Referring to an incident on Thursday involving the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi said separately that he had asked the US Marines to stop any future dumping of contaminated water.
Following the leakage of water containing toxic materials from the US Army oil storage facility in Uruma and other nearby locations in June, the US military informed local authorities and the Japanese government in July of its intention to release treated water into the local sewage system to prevent another unexpected leak, according to the Okinawa prefectural government.
But the US military notified the prefectural government only on Thursday morning that it would begin releasing the water less than an hour before going ahead with the plan.