#Radioactive Japan: Someone Emailed "Go to Hell" to Shimada City, Shizuoka for Burning Disaster Debris

In tea-growing Shimada City in Shizuka Prefecture where the mayor of the city is in the waste management business, they have started to burn the disaster debris in earnest, now that the test incineration in the state-of-the-art melting furnace was done.

Someone was very unhappy about it, and let the city known in no uncertain terms.

From Yomiuri Shinbun (part; 5/28/2012):

「地獄に堕ちろ」がれき焼却の島田市にメール

"Go to hell" email to debris-burning Shimada City

東日本大震災で発生したがれきの受け入れを始めた静岡県島田市は２８日、「首を洗って待っていろよ」などと書かれたメール８通が、市の代表アドレスに届いたと発表した。

Shimada City in Shizuoka Prefecture started to accept the disaster debris from March 11, 2011 disaster. On May 28, the city announced that it received 8 emails to the city's email address including an email with the message "Wash your neck [and be ready to be executed by beheading] and wait for me."

　受け入れに反発する内容が記載されており、市は、脅迫とも受け取れるとして、県警への被害届提出を検討している。

The emails express strong opposition to the city's acceptance of the debris. The city is considering filing a damage report with the prefectural police as they could be construed as threats.

　市によると、メールは５月２０～２５日、同じアドレスから届き、「がれき焼却を続けるだと！」「地獄に堕(お)ちろ」などと書かれていた。

According to the city, the emails were sent from the same address between May 20 and 25, and contained the messages like "How dare you continue burning the debris!" and "Go to hell".

Not that I have much sympathy for the city government, but it is just one example of how divisive the national government's continued insistence on the wide-area disposal of disaster debris.

These emails could have also been sent by someone who is pro-incineration, to discredit the opponents.

The Japanese society has become not only radioactive but coarse, where pro-nuclear people and experts and anti-nuke counterparts not only go at each other but also scold or ridicule people in the "middle" who are trying to figure out what's going on. That middle is not a "silent majority". It is a silent minority dwindling fast, cowed by attacks from both sides.

Meanwhile, a city that is almost bankrupt in Osaka Prefecture wants to accept non-flammable disaster debris. The city, Izumisano City, desperately needs money.

"It's all about money, isn't it? If someone says no at 100 million yen, tell them you will double the money. If he still says no, then triple it. If he still says no, there will be someone else who will take that money anyway" - this is the gist of what Dr. Haruki Madarame of the Nuclear Safety Commission said in 2005 while he was still a professor at Tokyo University.

Dr. Madarame was talking about the nuclear fuel cycle and the final disposal site. It's the same with the disaster debris disposal, with pro-government researchers　and the government money.

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#Radioactive Japan: Shameless Mayor of Shimada City in Shizuoka Wants Tea in His City to Be Designated as "Gift to the Imperial Family"

How much lower can you get? With this dictatorial mayor of Shimada City whose son is the president of the waste management company in the city, probably a lot lower.

From Shizuoka Shinbun (part; 5/11/2012):

桜井市長はがれき受け入れ表明に至った動機について「島田はお茶を東北の皆さんに買ってもらい、相当な恩恵を受けている。恩返しでやろうと思った」と振り返った。島田産の茶の「安全を証明するため」として、最終処分場のある同市初倉地区の茶が皇室献上茶になるよう環境省に働き掛けていることも明らかにした。

Mayor Sakurai [of Shimada City, Shizuoka] described his motive to accept the disaster debris as follows: "People in Tohoku buy Shimada's tea, benefiting us. So I wanted to return the favor." To "prove the safety" of tea made in Shimada City, he is asking the Ministry of the Environment so that the tea grown in Hatsukura District of Shimada City can be designated as "Gift to the Imperial Family" and given to the Imperial Family. Hatsukura District is where the final disposal site is located [where the radioactive slug and ashes are buried].

Where are the nationalistic ultra-right when we need them? They have been busy disrupting the anti-nuclear rallies and gatherings.

For the video of the final disposal landfill in Hatsukura District, go to my post here.

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Video of Final Disposal Site in Shimada City, Shizuoka on a Rainy Day in February This Year

Or so the video description says. I have no way to verify. The mayor of Shimada City has become a darling of the Ministry of the Environment for having decided to bring in, burn and bury the disaster debris from Iwate Prefecture in his city despite opposition from the residents.

The video was taken on February 23, 2012 and uploaded on March 29.

The author of the video keeps referring the brownish lump at at the site as "fly ash", but I think the lump may be "bottom ash".

Toward the end, the author says he (or someone else) took the sediment from what looks like a settling tank to measure radioactivity, and the result was 300 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium. In the comment section, the author tells a skeptic that soil samples of the surrounding area and the settling tank have been tested, and the result has been shared with the city government.

The water from the tank goes to the River Ooi, which flows through the agricultural and industrial lands to the Pacific Ocean. Yaizu Port at the river mouth is one of the largest fishing ports in Japan. The area near the port is also famous for "unagi" (eel) farming.

It looks like a mess of a final disposal site where the ashes from the disaster debris incineration will go. I don't think this is an exception only in Shimada City.

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Mayor of Shimada City Copies Goshi Hosono: "No Baseless Rumors if Disaster Debris is Spread All Over Japan"

Just as Goshi Hosono as Minister of the Environment (he is still the minister in charge of the nuclear accident) said the other day, the mayor of Shimada City in Shizuoka Prefecture is confident that "baseless rumors" will disappear once the disaster debris is spread all over Japan.

What kind of "baseless rumors"? In case of Shimada City, it's a "baseless rumor" that the green tea grown in Shimada City may get contaminated with radioactive materials from burning of the disaster debris contaminated with radioactive fallout from the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident and from burying the ashes in the final disposal site that has dubious records for safety.

The mayor has told the city residents who oppose the debris burning to take a hike, saying he will do whatever he wants to do anyway. The city's state-of-the-art melting furnace needs "fuel", and that will be the disaster debris.

The waste disposal company president turned mayor of Shimada even worries about the mental health of the residents in the disaster affected area, in the article below.

No word about the mental health of the residents of his own city.

From Hibi Zakkan blog quoting the article on March 19, 2012 that has since disappeared except on two sites (3/20/2012):

(From Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting Co's news on 3/19/2012)

静岡・島田市長、岩手県知事らと会談

Mayor of Shimada City, Shizuoka met with Governor of Iwate Prefecture

　岩手県で発生した災害がれきの受け入れを決めた静岡県・島田市の桜井市長は１９日、岩手県の達増知事と会談し、被災地のがれきの撤去作業を加速させるため、１回あたりのがれきの運搬量を増やしたいという考えを示しました。

Mayor Sakurai of Shimada City, Shizuoka who decided to accept disaster debris in Iwate Prefecture met with Governor Tasso of Iwate Prefecture on March 19. He told the governor that he wants to increase the amount of debris per shipment to expedite the debris removal at the disaster affected areas.

　「出来るだけ協力します」（静岡県・島田市　桜井市長）
　「お願いします」（岩手県　達増知事）

"I will do as much as I can to help." (Mayor Sakurai, Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture)
"Thank you, please do." (Governor Tasso, Iwate Prefecture)

　先週、岩手県内で発生した災害がれきの受け入れを決めた静岡県・島田市の桜井市長は１９日、環境省で岩手県の達増知事や細野環境大臣と会談し、がれきの受け入れについて「出来る限り進めていきたい」と話しました。

Mayor Sakurai of Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture, who decided last week to accept disaster debris in Iwate Prefecture, met with Governor Tasso of Iwate and Minister Hosono on March 19 at the Ministry of the Environment, and said "I want to do as much as I can" to accept disaster debris.

　島田市では年間５０００トンのがれきを受け入れることにしていますが、桜井市長は１日も早く、被災地からがれきをなくすことが被災者の心のケアにつながるとして、１回あたりのがれきの運搬量を増やすことを検討する考えを示しました。

Shimada City is to accept 5,000 tonnes of debris per year, but Mayor Sakurai expressed interest in increasing the amount of debris per shipment. He said removing the debris from the disaster affected areas as soon as possible would improve the mental health of the residents in the disaster affected areas.

　その一方で、桜井市長は、がれきの受け入れを決めたことで島田市のお茶が風評被害にあっていることに触れ、「がれきの受け入れが各地で進めば風評被害もなくなる」として、がれきの処理には全国的な取り組みが必要だという考えを示しました。

Mayor Sakurai also touched upon the "baseless rumors" causing damage to the green tea industry in Shimada City because of [his decision] to accept [and burn] the debris. "If disaster debris are accepted in various parts of Japan, there will be no baseless rumors", he said, highlighting the need for tackling the disaster debris disposal on the national scale.

As far as the Ministry of the Environment is concerned, it looks like the "escalation of commitment". As early as March 14, 2011, the ministry was sending out a letter to the national waste disposal industry association asking for cooperation in wide-area disposal of disaster debris. It was followed up by another letter, this time to the governors, on April 8, 2011 asking for cooperation. At that time, there was no mention of "radioactive contamination", and no mention of specific prefectures affected by the disaster.

This is strange, as disaster debris from the Kobe earthquake was never distributed far and wide, and Hyogo Prefecture (where Kobe is located) did almost all disposal by itself.

Oh I get it. The ministry and the waste disposal industry lobby didn't want to repeat the "mistake" of disaster debris distributed all over Japan with fat subsidies to benefit the industry, so they moved very, very quickly, even as the radioactive fallout from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant was descending on the debris.

By the way, Governor Tasso of Iwate Prefecture is a graduate of Tokyo University (law) and a former career bureaucrat in the Finance Ministry. All too familiar story these days, of ex-bureaucrat governors and mayors eager to help the national government, sometimes with the help of vice mayors who are bureaucrats in the ministries on leave.

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Mayor of Shimada City on Burning Disaster Debris in His City: "I'll Do It Anyway Even If Local Residents Oppose"

Yomiuri Shinbun Shizuoka local version (3/1/2012):

震災がれきの受け入れ問題で、試験溶融を行った島田市の桜井勝郎市長は２９日、「３月中にも（本格的な）受け入れを表明したい」との意向を明らかにした。ただ、溶融の開始時期については「輸送の問題もあり、国や県と相談する」と述べるにとどまった。

Mayor of Shimada City in Shizuoka Prefecture Katsuro Sakurai revealed his plan on February 29 to formally declare the city's acceptance of disaster debris. The city conducted the test burning the debris in the melting furnace. As to the start date of the burning/melting, he only said that he would consult with the national and prefectural governments as the issue of transporting the debris remains.

　同日の定例記者会見で明らかにした。桜井市長は、試験溶融での排ガスの放射能濃度など詳細な測定値が３月１２～１３日頃に判明するとの見通しを示し、「（溶融施設や最終処分場がある）地元や議会にデータを報告したい」と語った。だが、本格受け入れを決定する際、「地元に了解は求めない」との考えを示した。

During the regular press conference on February 29, Mayor Sakurai said the detailed test results from the test burning/melting including the radioactivity of the exhaust gas would be known on March 12 or 13, and that the results would be shared with the local district (where the melting furnace and the final disposal site are located) and with the City Assembly. However, he made it clear that he would not ask for permission from the local district [residents] when he decides to accept the debris.

　市は、震災がれきの溶融で生じた飛灰について、市内の最終処分場に埋め立て処理する方針。国の指針では、１キロ・グラムあたり８０００ベクレル以下であれば最終処分場に埋め立て処理できると定めているが、桜井市長は「（一般ゴミと震災がれきの）混合溶融で生じた飛灰が５００ベクレルを超える場合は最終処分場に捨てない」と述べ、独自の判断基準を示した。

The city plans to bury the fly ashes from the melting furnace in the city's final disposal site. The national government's guideline allows burying materials in the final disposal sites if the radioactivity is 8000 becquerels/kg or less. Mayor Sakurai said the city would have its own standard of 500 becquerels/kg for the fly ashes from the burning/melting of the mix (household garbage mixed with disaster debris). "If the radioactivity of the fly ashes exceeds 500 becquerels/kg, the ashes won't be buried in the final disposal site", the mayor said.

　２８日に静岡市が試験焼却の実施を表明したことについて、桜井市長は「島田市では一部しか受け入れができず、他の市町の動きが出たことは大変うれしい。そのための一端を果たせたことは満足している」と、感想を述べた。

Mayor Sakurai referred to the announcement on February 28 by Shizuoka City that it would conduct test burning, and said, "Shimada City could accept only a small portion of the disaster debris. I am very happy that other municipalities are moving toward accepting it. I am satisfied that I was able to get the ball rolling."

When I tweeted this Yomiuri article yesterday to my Japanese twitter followers, they were incredulous that this mayor would say things like this in a "democracy". Many people were saying "This cannot be allowed in a democracy!" Then, one person started to muse, "Maybe the definition of 'democracy' has changed..."

When governors and mayors like Mr. Sakurai says "local residents or district", they most certainly do not mean each individual resident in the district. They simply mean the heads of the self-governing neighborhood associations. As long as those heads agree, that's all that matters. Often, these heads of the neighborhood associations are prominent residents with ties with the politicians and officials and business interests that would be greatly promoted with such close ties.

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Goshi Hosono to Municipalities: "Stand Up Against Opposition to Disaster Debris"

A veritable declaration of war against citizens.

From Jiji Tsushin (2/17/2012):

各自治体は「立ち上がるべきだ」＝がれき広域処理で－環境相

Municipalities should "stand up" in disaster-debris wide area disposal, says Minister of the Environment

　細野豪志環境相は１７日の閣議後の記者会見で、静岡県島田市が岩手県山田町の災害廃棄物の試験焼却に着手したことに関連し、「島田市のような小さな自治体が立ち上がったわけだから、（廃棄物）処理の力がある自治体の首長は立ち上がるべきだ」と述べ、全国の自治体に東日本大震災のがれきの広域処理への協力を改めて求めた。

During the press conference after the cabinet meeting on February 17, Minister of the Environment Goshi Hosono referred to the start of experimental incineration of disaster debris from Yamada-machi, Iwate Prefecture by Shimada City in Shizuoka and said, "A small municipality like Shimada City has stood up, and so should the heads of the municipalities with the ability to process (disaster debris)", calling for cooperation from the municipalities all over Japan to process the disaster debris from the March 11, 2011 earthquake/tsunami.

　環境省は、岩手、宮城両県のがれき受け入れを各自治体に呼び掛けているが、東京都や山形県などで実現した以外に進んでいない。細野氏は「震災から１年を迎えるに当たり、何としても広域処理を前に進めたい」と強調した。

The Ministry of the Environment has been asking the municipalities to accept the disaster debris from Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures, but hasn't made much progress. Only Tokyo and Yamagata Prefecture have started accepting the debris. Hosono emphasized, "As the one-year anniversary of the quake/tsunami approaches, I want to move the wide-area processing forward, at all cost."

The state-of-the-art melting furnace of Shimada City in Shizuoka Prefecture is located right in the middle of tea plantations. The mayor's family is in the business of waste disposal management. The pricey melting furnace needs to have at least 60% of the furnace stuffed with garbage and waste to operate, so the disaster debris is God-sent.

So Shimada City stood up against thousands of residents who did not want disaster debris that was exposed to radioactive fallout from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant to be burned in their city. It may not even be the city that stood up; it was its mayor. Mayor Sakurai went so far as to say "I'm using Shimada City as a guinea pig."

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Minister of the Environment Goshi Hosono to Shimada City in Shizuoka: "Thank you for burning the debris, we're cheering for you by drinking your tea"

This is just absolutely sickening.

Shimada City in Shizuoka Prefecture, whose mayor is deeply involved in the corruption over waste management in the city, has decided to go ahead with test burning of the disaster debris from Iwate Prefecture against fierce opposition from the city residents and citizens in neighboring cities and prefectures. The ashes after incineration will be buried in the final disposal site for regular garbage and industrial waste in the city.

To reward such an exemplary behavior, joyous Goshi Hosono, Minister of the Environment, tells the city that he has made green tea from Shimada City as the drink at the ministry.

From Jiji Tsushin (2/3/2012):

「島田のお茶」でエール＝がれきの試験焼却受け－細野環境相

"We're cheering for you by drinking your tea", says Minister Hosono to Shimada City for its decision to test burn the debris

　細野豪志環境相は３日の閣議後記者会見で、静岡県島田市が東日本大震災で生じた岩手県山田町のがれきの試験焼却実施を決めたことを受け、省内幹部の部屋で飲むお茶を同市産にしたことを明らかにした。東京電力福島第１原子力発電所事故に伴う汚染への懸念から、被災地のがれきの広域処理が進まない中、受け入れに意欲を示す同市にエールを送った形だ。

Minister of the Environment Goshi Hosono revealed during the press conference on February 3 after the cabinet meeting that he switched the tea drunk by the ministry officials to the tea made in Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture. Shimada City has just announced it will test burn the disaster debris from Yamada-cho in Iwate Prefecture. As the wide-area processing of the disaster debris is not going well due to the concern for the radiation contamination from the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident, Minister Hosono, by switching the tea to the Shimada City's tea, is cheering for the city eager to accept the debris.

　会見で細野環境相は「もともとコーヒー党だが、今はもっぱら島田のお茶」と述べた。同省によると、各局職員らが親ぼく費で購入するお茶についても、島田茶の使用を呼び掛けているという。

In the press conference, Minister Hosono said, "I've been a coffee drinker, but right now all I drink is Shimada's tea." The Ministry of the Environment is encouraging the workers at the ministry to purchase Shimada tea for their consumption at work.

Shimada City is located in central Shizuoka, population slightly less than 100,000. Its main industry is tea growing on Makinohara Plateau, the largest tea growing region in Shizuoka and thus the largest in Japan.

Mayor Sakurai has said that he will go ahead with the test burning even though the residents of the district where the incinerator is located haven't agreed to the burning. He says, "I explained everything, nothing more to say to them. It's the time for decision."

Several meetings were held between the city officials and the residents, and the city stuffed the meetings with hired shills to boost their side. The officials even said the residents didn't matter anyway as the neighborhood community leaders were all for it.

Mayor Sakurai was the president of the city's only industrial waste processing company before he became the major. Currently, his relative (son or brother) is the president, running the company, and the mayor remains one of the largest shareholders.

Shimada City has declining population and declining amount of garbage. The incineration plant apparently cannot be used unless the furnace is at least 60% full. If that's true, it may be a relic from the bubble days in 1980s - a big incinerator, bigger than the city ever would have needed.

Disaster debris from Tohoku must be heaven-sent for the mayor.

The incineration plant is right near the water source for the city.

(If you read Japanese, this is a Togetter on "low down on Shimada City's decision to accept disaster debris".)

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