Collateral Damage: Agent Orange, Military Contamination and Okinawa

Thursday, October 30, 2014 @FCCJ

Contaminated Soccer Field in Okinawa City

Po

Masami Kawamura
(Director, CitizensNetwork for Biodiversity in Okinawa

Todays talk
Topics: Contaminated Barrels discovered
in a Soccer Field in Okinawa City
1. Political Framework or Political Discourse of Agent Orange
2. How our NGO works with Assembly Members and the Media
3. Three Points about the Contaminated Barrels

4. Japanese Reaction to the Investigation:

Still within the No Agent Orange Discourse
5. Contamination Issues as Public Health Issues
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Political Discourse of Agent Orange

No Agent Orange on Okinawa
-U.S Government
there were no documents found that validated
the allegation
-Japanese Government

-Okinawa Prefecture

- Municipal Office
3

Contaminated Barrels Unearthed

Our NGO Works with Assembly members and the
Media
On June 13th, 2013, 26 barrels were found in a soccer field,
former US base, in Okinawa City.
Logos of Dow Chemical Company

Contaminated Barrels unearthed

Our concern
In 2002, 215 barrels were found in Chatan Town, former
US base. Only one barrel was analyzed.

Our NGO works with assembly members and media

Project on Oversight and Evaluation
Local newspaper

Okinawa City Assembly

Press conference

Ryukyu Asahi
Broadcasting

Briefing prefectural assembly members

Project on Oversight and Evaluation

Okinawa City conducted cross check/counter investigation
Okinawa Defense Bureau

Okinawa City

Contaminated barrels
Second round investigation since last October

Three points about the contaminated barrels

1) Multicontamination

Dioxin, PCP, PCB, arsenic and fluorine

Three points about the contaminated barrels

TCDD level: Equivalent to the ones in Vietnam
Dr. Wayne Dwernychuk

The level of TCDD

in one barrel was
equivalent to the
ones in the soil of
former Danang
Airport in Vietnam.

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Comprehensive Assessment of Dioxin Contamination in Da Nang Airport, Viet Nam: Environmental Levels, Human
Exposure and Options for Mitigating Impacts
November 2009

Three points about the contaminated barrels

2) Dumping by US Military
Excerpt from Okinawa Defense Bureaus Report

Around 1964 - the year in which Tokyo

Olympics were held - 6 or 7 U.S. servicemen
were working from10:00 AM to evening near the
area of todays soccer field.
These service members unloaded barrels from
a U.S. military truck(s), rolled them into the
bottom of a small valley and covered them with
soil using military bulldozer(s).
They placed plywood on the slope allowing the
barrels to be rolled smoothly.

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Three points about the contaminated barrels

3) Relationship with Defoliant

Dr. Honda states that it is highly likely that, in the past, herbicides
containing components of defoliants such as Agent Purple, Green,
Pink and or Orange were present in the soccer field

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Japanese Reactions to the Investigation

Still within the No Agent Orange Discourse

Okinawa Defense Bureau

unable to find Agent Orange defoliant in the drums
neglects Other Vietnam War defoliants

Okinawa prefecture

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