japan

From 1985 to 2001, personnel at Naval Air Facility (NAF) Atsugi in Atsugi, Japan may have been exposed to environmental contaminants from off-base waste incinerators. The incinerators were shut down in May 2001.

The following video features a press conference and conversation with Jon Mitchell about the extent of military contamination in Japan and tools used to uncover and shed light on the story. Jon Mitchell is a Special Correspondent for Okinawa Times and an Award Winner of FCCJ’s Freedom of the Press Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also chief contributor to our Okinawa section and esteemed member of the Civilian Exposure Journalist Advisory Board.

The ongoing conflict between the military and local community environments continues at home and abroad. Will military development in these areas help or hurt the community? Could potential toxins and chemicals infiltrate the surrounding groundwater and soil as is the case with other areas in Okinawa? The following article takes a closer look at the unsteady military/public lands relationship in Okinawa.

Since 2002, at least 270 environmental accidents on U.S. Marine Corps bases on Okinawa have contaminated land and local waterways but, until now, almost none of these incidents has been made public. U.S. Marine internal reports highlight serious flaws in training and suggest that the lessons of past accidents have not been effectively implemented. Moreover, recent USMC guidelines order service members not to inform Japanese authorities of accidents deemed “politically sensitive”, raising concerns that many incidents may have gone unreported.

We always appreciate the feedback of our visitors and subscribers to Civilian Exposure. There’s so much out there involving potential chemical contamination at military installations that we benefit by hearing from you directly about locations we’ve yet to cover. Such is the case with Okinawa and the potential for Agent Orange exposure.

In researching ideas for our latest editorial, a pattern became increasingly clear that we wanted to address. If you recall two weeks ago, we published an editorial on the water contamination in Flint, Michigan and its connection to base contamination at bases such as Camp Lejeune. In that editorial, we focused on accountability, or lack thereof, in our government agencies. Regardless, these agencies are responsible for contamination and for the lack of post-service treatment of citizens serving and working at those bases.

When Congressman Kurt Schrader went home to his district in Portland, Oregon to listen to constituents at a recent town hall meeting, he heard something new.  It appears that veterans and civilians at other bases are starting to speak up about toxic exposure at other installations during their service.  Schrader heard from several veterans who were concerned about exposure while stationed at Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan from 1985-2001.