#Radioactive Japan: Village in Gunma Prefecture Recycles Contaminated Soil and Uses It in the Village Soccer Field

There is a short poem ("haiku") by Master Basho Matsuo that goes like this in English:

If I say some things
My words get frozen on my lips
In the autumnal wind

It means, "So what's the point of saying?"

Replace the word "autumnal" with "perpetual" and that's been Japan since March 2011.

The latest idiocy comes from a village in Gunma Prefecture where many have pointed out that the radiation levels are rather high.

Villagers "decontaminated" the public places in the village by removing the contaminated soil. What then did the village do with the contaminated soil? They used it in the soccer field.

From Sankei Shinbun local version for Gunma (6/13/2012):

除染で撤去の土、サッカー場使用　川場村「問題ない」　

Soil removed by decontamination work was used in the soccer field, and Kawaba-mura says "No problem"

川場村の村民有志らが「除染」のため村内で取り除いたセシウムを含む土が、村が造成したサッカー場の盛り土に利用されていたことが１２日、県議会放射能対策特別委員会で明らかになった。

It was revealed during the June 12 meeting of the [Gunma] prefectural assembly special committee on radiation countermeasures that the soil contaminated with radioactive cesium that had been removed by the volunteers in Kawaba-mura was used as filling to raise the ground level of the soccer field that the village was building.

　昨年夏の県の調査では、国の埋め立て基準（１キロ当たり８千ベクレル）を下回る約１３００ベクレルのセシウムが検出され、完成後の周囲の放射線量も低く、同村は「安全上問題はない」と説明している。

According to the survey done by the prefectural government last summer, 1,300 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected, which was below the national standard for burying safely in the landfill (8,000 becquerels/kg). Since the soccer field was completed, the [air] radiation levels on the perimeter of the field have been low. The village says, "There is no problem of safety."

　県と同村によると、村民有志らが昨年８月、村内で比較的高い空間放射線量が測定された川場小学校校庭など計４カ所で、地表の土約４０トンを取り除いた。村は土を村有地で一時保管していたが、周辺住民から苦情が寄せられ、同９月、造成していたサッカーグラウンドの盛り土として、約５０センチ地中に埋めた。

According to Gunma Prefecture and the village, volunteers in the village removed about 40 tonnes of surface soil in August last year from 4 locations in the village that were found with relatively high levels of air radiation, including the schoolyard of Kawaba Elementary School. The village was temporarily storing the removed soil on the land owned by the village. However, after the residents living nearby complained, the village buried the soil about 50 centimeter deep in the soccer field it was building in September.

Kawaba-mura's official radiation levels are between 0.1 to 0.5 microsievert/hour. People who actually went there and measure various locations in the village report much higher numbers.　Professor Yukio Hayakawa considers Kawaba-mura as one of the hot spots in Kanto Region. Setagaya-ku in Tokyo continues to send school children to the "summer school" in Kawaba-mura.

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Formaldehyde Update: It Was Hexamethylenetetramine in the River Water

so the government ministries (Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of the Environment) say.

Somewhere along the Tone River in Saitama Prefecture or Gunma Prefecture, 0.6 to 4 tonnes of hexamethylenetetramine had been dumped, and it reacted with the chlorine used for the sampling tests at the water purification plants, resulting in formaldehyde.

The popular speculation on the net was that some substance was being irradiated by radioactive materials in the water (plutonium, cesium, strontium were the popular candidates) and turning into formaldehyde. (For more, see my previous post.) I think it is still popular among many people, because "the government lies" as far as they are concerned.

From NHK News (5/24/2012):

利根川水系の水道水から、国の基準を超える化学物質のホルムアルデヒドが検出された問題で、原因となった主な物質は、川に排出された「ヘキサメチレンテトラミン」という化学物質だったことが分かりました。

Concerning the detection of formaldehyde in drinking water from the Tone River and its tributaries exceeding the national safety limit, it has been determined that a chemical substance called "hexamethylenetetramine" that was discharged into the river caused the problem.

この物質を扱っている事業所は埼玉県と群馬県に５か所あり、厚生労働省と環境省はそれぞれの県に対し、２５日にも立ち入り調査するよう求めました。

There are 5 factories that use this substance in Saitama and Gunma Prefectures. The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of the Environment have requested the prefectural governments to conduct on-site investigation as early as May 25.

この問題は、利根川水系の千葉、埼玉、東京、群馬の各自治体が管理する浄水場の水道水から、国の基準を超えるホルムアルデヒドが検出され、一時、断水などの影響が広がったものです。

Formaldehyde exceeding the national safety standard was found from the drinking water at the water purification plants in Chiba, Saitama, Tokyo, and Gunma along the Tone River system. The water supply was temporarily cut off, affecting many residents in municipalities that receive water from these plants.

ホルムアルデヒドは河川の原水からは検出されていないことから、厚生労働省は、原因となる別の化学物質が浄水場で塩素と反応して発生したとみて、原因物質の特定を進めていました。

Formaldehyde was not detected from the river water itself. The Ministry of Health concluded that some substance in the water reacted with chlorine at the purification plants, generating formaldehyde, and proceeded to identify the substance.

その結果、流域の浄水場で採取された水から、「ヘキサメチレンテトラミン」と呼ばれる化学物質が検出され、この水に塩素を加えるとホルムアルデヒドが生成されたということです。

The chemical substance called "hexamethylenetetramine" was detected from the water samples taken at the water purification plants along the river system, and when chlorine was added to the water samples formaldehyde was formed.

このため、厚生労働省は原因となった主な物質はヘキサメチレンテトラミンとみています。

The Ministry of Health concluded that hexamethylenetetramine was the cause.

また、これまでに検出された濃度から、利根川水域に流出したヘキサメチレンテトラミンの量は全体で０．６トンから４トン程度と推定されるということです。

Also, judging from the concentration, the total amount of hexamethylenetetramine discharged into the Tone River system is estimated to be between 0.6 to 4 tonnes.

この物質を年間１トン以上扱っている事業所は、埼玉県に２か所、群馬県に３か所の合わせて５か所あり、厚生労働省と環境省はそれぞれの県に対し、２５日にも立ち入り調査するよう求めました。

There are factories that use this substance more than 1 tonne per year, with 2 in Saitama and 3 in Gunma. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of the Environment have requested the prefectural governments to conduct on-site investigation as early as May 25.

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