Criticism as PFOS chemicals leak from Okinawa Prefecture Office basement, with no public notice of its sloppy management. (27se23)


Splendor of Okinawa: Brunfelsia uniflora, roadside Uruma, 31se23


It was learned on 26 September that fire-retardant chemicals containing hazardous PFOS (organic fluorine compounds) were leaking from an underground parking lot at the Prefectural Office in Izumizaki in Naha. The Prefecture was aware of the leak, but has yet to make it public.


On the other hand, the Prefecture has strongly protested the PFOS leaks from US Military facilities. So, criticism is growing over why it has not responded publicly to its own leak.


According to informed sources, when the tank of fire-retardant stored in the underground parking lot at the Prefectural Office was inspected, the level of the contents were found lowered. For some reason or other, some retardant had leaked out. The fear is that some of it may have seeped into Kumoji River, near the Prefectural Office. PFOS are hazardous substances with concerns about their impact on the human body, such as being a cause of cancer.


When there was a discharge of PFOS at the US Military Futenma Airfield in Ginowan in 2020, the Prefecture protested strongly. Moreover, when the U.S. Military was one day late in reporting a discharge from a facility in Uruma the following year, there was more criticism.


In addition, on 19 September, at the public session on Hazardous Substances and Waste at the UN Human Rights Council, Governor Denny Tamaki intended to bring up such problems as PFOS in his speech there, but was unable to speak due to a problem of time.


At any rate, the Prefectural Assembly is harshly raising its criticism of the Prefecture’s own sloppy management, as it criticizes the U.S. Military for its management practices.


Original Japanese article: Sankei Shimbun, published Tuesday 26 September 2023 at 18:29.   https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/5dcfa5a653c771ce59ab26374c332fc82ade5db9


Denny in the News: news about Governor Denny Tamaki.


Denny Tamaki is the governor of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. Although Okinawa is important as an international tourist destination and a key element in strategic US Military Forces, its governor receives very little coverage in the Japanese press and almost none in the English language media. 


This blog hopes to  translate one news article a day on the governor.  It is unsponsored and unauthorized. The translator simply hopes to improve his skills and perhaps give the governor an English speaking audience. 


Any suggestion on improving my translation will be gratefully accepted. However, please leave political comments for another forum.


Where they occur, words and phrases in Ryukyuan (the Okinawan language) are rendered in italics and translated in parentheses. Names  whose readings are uncertain are rendered as Name (=Kanji?) as in Nagayuki (=長行?). Any corrections in such instances would be gratefully appreciated.



 

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