CONTAMINATED SITES - CASES, REMEDIATION, RISK AND POLICY

RESTORATION PROJECT OF TESHIMA ISLAND STAINED BY ILLEGAL DUMPING

Takeda N.
Research Center for Eco-Technology, Ritsumeikan University, Noji Higashi 1-1-1, Kusatsu, 525-8577, Japan

Abstract
More than 500 thousand tons of industrial wastes were illegally dumped in a small island, “Teshima Island”, and soil,
subterranean water, etc. were contaminated with hazardous substances like dioxins. According to the reports issued
by the Technical Study Committee for the Restoration of Teshima, Kagawa Prefectural Government constructed
water insulating wall and wastewater treatment plant for the conservation of the environment at Teshima Island.
The intermediate treatment plants, which are mainly consists of incineration and melting furnaces were also
constructed at Naoshima Island. The illegally dumped waste and contaminated soil are excavated and packaged at
Teshima Island and transported via ocean to Naoshima Island, where waste and soils are treated and by products are
recycled for effective uses. The intermediate treatment started in autumn, 2003, and would continue for ten years.
More than 99 % of dioxins buried is expected to be decomposed.

Introduction
Huge amount of illegally dumped wastes contaminated soil, water, etc. in the surrounding environment. The
Technical Study Committee for the Restoration of Teshima submitted three reports for the measures. After many
turns and twists, Kagawa Prefectural Government decided to treat these wastes and contaminated soils by
incineration and melting. A real treatment starts in 2003.

Details
The Seto Inland Sea – with over seven hundreds large and small islands with intricate shorelines, is a place of
magnificent scenic beauty. “Teshima Island” which has 15 km2 land area is one of the islands located within Seto
Inland National Park Area. The climate of this region is mild.
Industrial wastes were illegally dumped into a gravel pit site of 30 ha in Teshima Island. The illegal dumping
continued from late 1970’s to 1988, and dumped wastes amounts to more than 500 thousand tons. The illegally
dumped waste contains various kinds of industrial wastes. Major content is residues from car and home electric
appliance shredders, but paper mill sludge, slag, dewatered industrial sludge, incineration residue, waste oils and
others were also dumped.
In 1994, the Environmental Disputes Coordination Commission investigated the amount and expanse of illegal
dumping and concentration of hazardous substances in the waste, soil, subterranean water, surface water and extract
from solids (waste and/or soil). The results indicates (1) the amount of waste and contaminated soil is about
495,000 m3, that is, about 560 ,000 tons, and the expanse is 69,000 m2, (2) these waste and soil are containing
noticeable amount of hazardous substances such as heavy metals, chlorinated organic compounds like dioxins, (3)
these hazardous substances contaminate even subterranean water, (4) these hazardous substances may leak out to the
sea via northern shorelines, and (5) emergent countermeasure should be taken to preserve living environment.
Figure 1 shows the expanse of the waste and heavily contaminated area, and Table 1 shows the summation of the
analytical results. And, the maximum depth of waste layer was estimated to be 16.5 m.
In 1997 the residents of Teshima Island and governor of Kagawa Prefecture conclude a provisional agreement that
the government of Kagawa Prefecture aimed to treat all the waste and contaminated soil by incineration and melting,
as well as recycling its by-products for effective use. The Technical Study Committee for the Restoration of
Teshima was established based on the provisional agreement in 1997. The Technical Study Committee submitted a
report on “subjects concerning provisional measures for the conservation of the environment and a report on “subject
concerning the intermediate treatment plant” in August 1998, submitted a “final report for the restoration of Teshima
in secondary version” in May 1999, and submitted a “final report for the restoration of Teshima in third version” in
November 1999.
The grand scheme is as follows; the illegally dumped waste and contaminated soil are excavated and packaged at
Teshima Island and transported via ocean to Naoshima Island, where waste and soils are treated and by products are
recycled for effective uses. See Figure 23.
According to the reports issued by the Technical Study Committee for the Restoration of Teshima, Kagawa
Prefectural Government constructed excavation, packaging, transportation and treatment system for waste and
contaminated soil, and provisional measures for the conservation of the environment.

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Sea

Hill

Hill

Sea

Point where waste was found

Area where waste was

Sea Area “over standard”

Figure 1 Expanse of Waste and Contaminated Soil1, 2

(1)Teshima Island
(a) A water insulating wall (about 360 m long and 2-18 m deep) was constructed along the north coast to prevent
leakage of contaminated water into ocean.
(b) A wastewater treatment plant was constructed to treat subterranean water and leachate.
(c) An intermediate packaging plant and a special treatment plant were constructed.
(2)Transportation Ship
(a) A ferry-type ship was constructed to transport 150 ton of waste and soil in 18 container trucks per transport.
(b) Two rounds of transportation per day between Teshima Island and Naoshima Island. The distance is 8 km.
(3)Naoshima Island
(a) Two units of rotating surface melting furnace with capacity of 100 t/d were constructed to decompose and melt
the waste and contaminated soil.
(b) Rotary kiln furnace was constructed. The furnace decomposes combustibles and others which are adherent to
ferrous materials, rocks etc.
(c) Fly ash, which is produced in melting process, is treated and its valuable metals are recovered at Naoshima
Refinery facility at Mitsubishi Materials Corporation located next to the intermediate treatment plant.

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Table 1 Summation of Analytical Results1, 2

Decomposition of Dioxins
Totally more than 190,000 tons of waste and soil ware treated from fiscal 2003 to fiscal 2006, and 466 g-TEQ of
dioxins were estimated to be decomposed out of 1,458 g-TEQ buried within the dumping site. The estimation is
shown in Table 2.

Table 2 Estimate of Dioxin Decomposition

Estimated Dioxin Reserves within dumping site 1,458 g-TEQ
Already Decomposed Amount of Dioxin from 2003FY to 2006F Y 466 g-TEQ
Already Lost dioxins 4.3 g-TEQ
Amount of Dioxins to be decomposed from now 979 g-TEQ
Amount of Dioxins to be lost from now 9.0 g-TEQ

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CONTAMINATED SITES - CASES, REMEDIATION, RISK AND POLICY

Figure 2 Grand Scheme of Treatment System in Teshima and Naoshima Islands3

Cost
Outline of the estimated cost of the project is shown in Table 3. Construction cost contains waste packaging and
loading plant, wastewater treatment plant, incineration and melting plants, and other civil works like construction of
the loading pier. Although the criminal of the illegal dumping is said to have gotten about 3 million US$, the
restoration of the island will cost more than 100 times of the sale, that is, more than 400 million US$.

Table 3 Estimated Cost of the Project

Construction 150 million US$
Transportation 28 million US$
Running 250 million US$
Total 428 million US$
428 million US$/600 thousand tons = about 700 US$/ton

References
1. Hanashima M, Takatsuki H, Nakasugi O, Waste Management Research 1996;7;208
2. Sato K, Hata F, Waste Management Research 2001;12;106
3. The Technical Study Committee for the Restoration of Teshima, Waste Management Research 2001;12;117

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