Moreover, there are other serious problems with the in-situ treatment tests themselves, as mentioned by Dr Prof Akio Hata, an adviser of the Japan Association on the Environmental Studies, called on 18/02 to give unsworn testimony in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, Economy and Port and Harbor Commission:
-- It is problematic that the report submitted by the Technological Panel instructed only an insufficient survey to deep part of the underground. So, there is the probability that some polluted soil remains deep in the ground, and then,
it is difficult to clean the whole groundwater under the site concerned.
-- It is not confirmed if the Yurakucho stratum is fully impermeable. So, there is the probability that it is difficult to keep the level of groundwater as ap -1.8 meter, so as to be unable to prevent other water from coming in.
-- Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd., the original landowner, has already tried to treat the polluted soil. They can be considered to have failed completely, as a plenty of contaminants were found later. And their methods for the treatment were identical with most of the ones that the TMG is using at present.
-- As for microbe treatment, it takes much time - at least one year, but never half of the year - to get results.
-- In-situ cleaning is very low in efficiency at Toyosu, where major part of the soil is fine and argilliferous, while this method is valid for coarse-grained soil.
-- Heating treatment has ever been tried by Tokyo Gas, but it is supposed to have been unsuccessful for practice (as a plenty of contaminants were found later).
-- To pumpe up and treat groundwater is valid to a certain extent, but not so for the whole groundwater in the area concerned.
-- No third party is assumed by the TMG to evaluate the tests. The unavailability of crosschecking leads to credibility gaps.
-- Total cost for the measures to treat the polluted soil at Toyosu was calculated by the Technological Panel as 58.6 billion yen (ca 533 million dollars), while the whole land is about to be bought for 237 billion yen (ca 2.15 billion dollars). Then, the cost for soil treatment reaches 25 percent of the one for land perchase. This corresponds to a "brown field", specified by the Environmental Ministry as the rate being over 20 percent. Such a land should not be bought by the TMG.
Also, as pointed out by Mr Yukio Sakamaki, former Chief Researcher of the Geological Survey of Japan, at a study session held on 23/02 by a citizens' group. The TMG meantime changed its terminology from "verication tests" to "application tests." A contractor undertaking the tests was told by the TMG to "confirm that the contamination concentration has been reduced", but not, eg, to observe whether this has been done as expected or not. That is, it is assumed that the contractor would be in breach of his contraction, if he had not answered to the TMG that the contamination concentration had been reduced. The tests are being carried out in a preestablished harmony!
As a matter of course, many people impose questions upon such injustices. A typical answer from Governor Ishihara to them is this:
"I rely on the technologies thought out by Japanese - then, Japanese should believe in the Japanese technologies!"
(Source - in Japanese only)
As such, Governor Ishihara virtually confesses that he relys on belief, but not on science, despite telling of technologies. Also, what does he think about the fact that these technologies were selected by the panel chaired by a specialst in robotics? (cf: An example of bizarre phenomena around Tsukiji)
Anyway, all these absurdities are tolerated because of the malfunction of journalism in this country, as I repeatedly mentioned. This mainly comes from the "government-press complex", of which destruction slowly began on the national level after the regime change in the last year, but which is still prevailing in Tokyo Metropolis. The complex is enabled by some factors, of which two I like to name for now.
One is the major ad agents, which can control massmedias by providing ad money, while they work for bureaucrats and politicians to get concessions.
Another is the cross-ownership system, which enables massmedeia to be serialized by capital relation between newspapers and broadcasting stations. It has been leading to the closed "reporters' clubs", which constitute a cartel to exclude freelance journalists, foreign reporters etc, and which enable to control information, as mentioned above.
However, since the shift of power in the last year, the situation has begun to change gradually. Particularly the crossownership, of which problem had been little known, has come into light since early this year, thanks to direct communication through internet and especially twitter. The closed system will be eventually regulated for open. That could be said to be a start of real democracy in this country. But there are still steadfast reactions against the new stream, as is just pararell to what occurs around the Obama administration in the US. So, I do hope, you overseas friends will support this change in Japan by spreading the information worldwide!!!
