Japan’s Kyodo News reported on the 26th that documents collected by the media showed that environmental pollution and noise hazards around US military bases in Japan had become a problem in 1977.
At that time, the US government discussed applying Japan’s environmental laws to the US military. The opposition of the embassy in Japan failed to materialize. The noise and environmental pollution of US military bases in Japan have also been left to this day.
It is reported that the U.S. Embassy in Japan stated at the time that if Japan’s environmental laws are followed, U.S. military operations such as flight training will be restricted. In addition, meeting Japanese standards is expensive and time-consuming.
In the 1960s, the noise problem and the pollution suspected to be caused by the leakage of harmful substances in the US military bases in Japan became serious.
Recently, Ginowan City, Okinawa Prefecture, where the US Army Futenma Airport is located, also detected harmful organic fluorine compounds.
However, the Japan-U.S. status agreement does not specify detailed rules for environmental issues, and the Japan-U.S.
Environmental Supplementary Agreement, which came into effect in 2015, does not state that the U.S. military is obliged to accept internal investigations at the base.
