Tokyo lodged a protest on Friday against the US' decision to discharge water contaminated with organofluorine compounds from its Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the Okinawa prefecture into the sewage system
TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th August, 2021) Tokyo lodged a protest on Friday against the US' decision to discharge water contaminated with organofluorine compounds from its Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the Okinawa prefecture into the sewage system.
After contaminated water leaked at a military warehouse for oil products in June, the US command notified the Okinawan authorities about its intention to release the water stored in the warehouse into the sewer system after purification. The administration received the notification on Thursday morning and demanded that this process be stopped.
"Japan and the US are still negotiating water utilization, despite that, a unilateral discharge was carried out, this is extremely regrettable," Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said, as cited by the Kyodo news agency.
The minister noted that local residents were concerned about the incident and pledged to request details from the US side.
The US has consistently said that the water release poses no danger, as the concentration of organofluorine compounds is significantly lower after purification than the Japanese norms.
