Impacts of Dioxin Emissions from the Shinkampo Incinerator to the U.S. Naval Air Facility at Atsugi, Japan
The United States Naval Air Facility at Atsugi, Japan (NAF Atsugi) is located in the Kanto Plain area on the island of Honshu, Japan. Directly to the south of the facility, in the Tade River Valley, was the Shinkampo Incinerator Complex (SIC). The Incinerator is no longer in operation, having closed in May of 2001. While operating, three incinerators were licensed by Japan to burn general industrial waste and infections industrial waste (medical), and were incinerating up to 90 tons a day. The pollution control devices included precipitators and scrubbers. The 4-5 acre facility was located in a small river valley, and the NAF Atsugi is positioned on a plateau at the end of the valley. While the incinerator stacks were about 25 m high from the valley base, they were only about 15 meters higher than the ground level of the NAF Atsugi.
Further, these stacks were only 250 m away from the nearest high-rise housing unit and about 1000 m from a school and day care center. The predominant wind direction is from south to north during the spring and summer (conversely from north to south during the fall and winter). When blowing from south to north, the plume moves directly onto the base where exposures could occur. The NAF Atsugi was not permitted to test the stacks, and was not provided with stack test information by the owners of the facility. Subsequently, their evaluation of environmental impacts focused on environmental monitoring on NAF Atsugi, including a soil testing program and an extensive air monitoring program. Numerous organic and inorganic contaminants were measured in these programs.
This paper is in two parts:
Further, these stacks were only 250 m away from the nearest high-rise housing unit and about 1000 m from a school and day care center. The predominant wind direction is from south to north during the spring and summer (conversely from north to south during the fall and winter). When blowing from south to north, the plume moves directly onto the base where exposures could occur. The NAF Atsugi was not permitted to test the stacks, and was not provided with stack test information by the owners of the facility. Subsequently, their evaluation of environmental impacts focused on environmental monitoring on NAF Atsugi, including a soil testing program and an extensive air monitoring program. Numerous organic and inorganic contaminants were measured in these programs.
This paper is in two parts:
- Part 1 focuses on the soil monitoring for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (CDDs) and dibenzofurans (CDFs), and
- Part 2 focuses on the air monitoring program.
Citation
Lorber, M., V. Wang, Y. Walker, AND P. Gillooly. Impacts of Dioxin Emissions from the Shinkampo Incinerator to the U.S. Naval Air Facility at Atsugi, Japan.History/Chronology
Additional Information
To download Part 1. Soil Impacts and Part 2. Air Impacts, go to Downloads section. Posting of short papers approved by Ecoinforma Press, Jean-Paul-Str. 30, D-95444 Bayreuth. Fax: 49-021-54626. E-Mail: otto.hutzinger@uni-bayreth.deDownload(s)
- PART 1: SOIL IMPACTS (PDF) (4 pp, 320.3 KB, about PDF)
- PART 2: AIR IMPACTS (PDF) (4 pp, 560.5 KB, about PDF)