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The Enviro-Tech IncineratorComplex (Atsugi Incinerator) was a waste incinerator located in Ayase, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, [1] (formerly Jinkanpo/Shinkampo). [2] It began operation on March 3, 1980 and was closed on April 30, 2001. [3] The incinerator was located near Naval Air Facility Atsugi, a base manned partly by several thousand United States Navy members and their families.
Throughout its history, the incinerator reportedly blew toxic and cancerous emissions over the neighbouring base facilities. [1] [4] The incinerator's owners, arrested and jailed for charges of tax evasion, neglected the maintenance of the facility. The pollution had become so much of a health concern for the American residents that if they showed signs of adverse health effects, the U.S. military authorities allowed them to leave early (usually service members are stationed at the base for a tour of three years). Many U.S. service members reported sickness and a few died from cancer shortly after moving back to the United States. [5] However, the US Navy has not formally established a connection between their exposure and their disease. For a time, the base required service members to undergo medical screenings before being stationed at the base in order to ensure that they had no medical condition that would be worsened by the poor air quality.
In May 2001, the Japanese government purchased the plant for nearly 40 million dollars and shut it down following a United States Department of Justice lawsuit against the private incinerator owner. [6] Dismantling was completed by the end of that year. Some former residents of Atsugi NAF still complain of health problems related to the incinerator's emissions and report that the USN has been reluctant to address their concerns. The incinerator contaminated the base, especially the housing area, with dioxin, heavy metals, and other deadly toxins. In June, 2007, the USN's Environmental Health Center announced that it would conduct a study of the health population of those stationed at NAF Atsugi during the time the incinerator was in operation.
The Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center has stated that a new health study is currently underway and should be released in the summer of 2009.
Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), or simply dioxins, are a group of long-lived polyhalogenated organic compounds that are primarily anthropogenic, and contribute toxic, persistent organic pollution in the environment.
Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-energy facilities. Incineration and other high-temperature waste treatment systems are described as "thermal treatment". Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas and heat. The ash is mostly formed by the inorganic constituents of the waste and may take the form of solid lumps or particulates carried by the flue gas. The flue gases must be cleaned of gaseous and particulate pollutants before they are dispersed into the atmosphere. In some cases, the heat that is generated by incineration can be used to generate electric power.
Naval Air Facility Atsugi is a joint Japan-US naval air base located in the cities of Yamato and Ayase in Kanagawa, Japan. It is the largest United States Navy (USN) air base in the Pacific Ocean and once housed the squadrons of Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5), which deploys with the American aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.
Naval Support Facility Kamiseya is a detachment of U.S. Naval Air Facility, NAF Atsugi, Japan. The facility is located on the Kantō Plain, approximately three miles (4.8 km) northeast of NAF Atsugi, and 7.55 miles (12.15 km) WNW of Yokohama. The base consists of 587 acres (2.38 km2) with 110 acres (0.45 km2) within the fence line. It has 184 buildings and a plant property value of $100 million. Base population consists of 300 sailors, their families and personnel who work on the facility.
A naval air station is a military air base, and consists of a permanent land-based operations locations for the military aviation division of the relevant branch of a navy. These bases are typically populated by squadrons, groups or wings, their various support commands, and other tenant commands.
Environmental pollution in Japan has accompanied industrialization since the Meiji period. One of the earliest cases was the copper poisoning caused by drainage from the Ashio Copper Mine in Tochigi Prefecture, beginning as early as 1878. Repeated floods occurred in the Watarase River basin, and 1,600 hectares of farmland and towns and villages in Tochigi and Gunma prefectures were damaged by the floodwater, which contained excessive inorganic copper compounds from the Ashio mine. The local breeders led by Shōzō Tanaka, a member of the Lower House from Tochigi appealed to the prefecture and the government to call a halt to the mining operations. Although the mining company paid compensatory money and the government engaged in the embankment works of the Watarase River, no fundamental solution of the problem was achieved.
Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste, or the processing of waste into a fuel source. WtE is a form of energy recovery. Most WtE processes generate electricity and/or heat directly through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels, often derived from the product syngas.
Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron Five One (HSM-51), also known as "Warlords," is a United States Navy helicopter squadron stationed at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, located in Ayase City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Honshu, Japan. HSM-51 is part of the Helicopter Maritime Strike Wing, Pacific Fleet, which consists of seven squadrons based in San Diego. The squadron regularly deploys on various ships within the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet, primarily stationed in Yokosuka, Japan.
Atsugi is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 June 2021, the city had an estimated population of 223,960 and a population density of 2400 persons per km2. The total area of the city is 93.83 square kilometres (36.23 sq mi). While the name "Atsugi" is often associated with the United States Navy base named Naval Air Facility Atsugi, the base is actually not in Atsugi, but straddles the border between the nearby cities of Ayase and Yamato.
Polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) are a family of organic compounds with one or several of the hydrogens in the dibenzofuran structure replaced by chlorines. For example, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran (TCDF) has chlorine atoms substituted for each of the hydrogens on the number 2, 3, 7, and 8 carbons. Polychlorinated dibenzofurans with chlorines at least in positions 2,3,7 and 8 are much more toxic than the parent compound dibenzofurane, with properties and chemical structures similar to polychlorinated dibenzodioxins. These groups together are often inaccurately called dioxins. They are known developmental toxicants, and suspected human carcinogens. PCDFs tend to co-occur with polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs). PCDFs can be formed by pyrolysis or incineration at temperatures below 1200 °C of chlorine containing products, such as PVC, PCBs, and other organochlorides, or of non-chlorine containing products in the presence of chlorine donors. Dibenzofurans are known persistent organic pollutants (POP), classified among the dirty dozen in the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) are a group of chemical compounds that are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environment. They are mostly by-products of burning or various industrial processes or, in the case of dioxin-like PCBs and PBBs, unwanted minor components of intentionally produced mixtures.
The Commander, Naval Air Forces is the aviation Type Commander (TYCOM) for all United States Navy naval aviation units. Type Commanders are in Administrative Control (ADCON), and in some cases Operational Control (OPCON) of certain types of assets assigned to the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets. AIRFOR is responsible for the materiel readiness, administration, training, and inspection of units/squadrons under their command, and for providing operationally ready air squadrons and aircraft carriers to the fleet.
Operation Tomodachi was a United States Armed Forces assistance operation to support Japan in disaster relief following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The operation took place from 12 March to 4 May 2011; involved 24,000 U.S. servicemembers, 189 aircraft, 24 naval ships; and cost $90 million.
The triangle of death is an area approximately 25 km northeast of the city of Naples in the Province of Naples, Campania, Italy, that comprises the comuni of Acerra, Nola and Marigliano. This area contains the largest illegal waste dump in Europe due to a waste management crisis in the 1990s and 2000s.
Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC), is a government contractor based in Newport News, Virginia, United States. It operates Dassault Mirage F1, Mk-58 Hawker Hunter, Israeli F-21 Kfir, Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, and Aero L-39 Albatros military aircraft in tactical flight training roles for the United States Navy, United States Air Force, and Air National Guard.
Air Patrol Squadron 3 is a unit in the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force. It is a part of Fleet Air Wing 4 and is based at Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Kanagawa prefecture. It is equipped with Kawasaki P-1 aircraft.
Air Transport Squadron 61 is a unit in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force. It is a part of the Fleet Air Force and is based at Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Kanagawa prefecture. It operates LC-90 and Lockheed C-130R Hercules aircraft.
Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, formed in 1997, is a multiracial grassroots organization based in San Francisco that works with low-income and working class urban, rural, and indigenous communities. It runs campaigns in the United States to build grassroots networks, and advocate for social justice.
Air Development Squadron 51 is a unit in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force. It is a part of the Fleet Air Force and is based at Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Kanagawa prefecture.
The Harrisburg Incinerator, now under private operation as Susquehanna Resource Management Complex (SRMC), is a waste-to-energy incinerator in South Harrisburg, Pennsylvania built and operated by the city from 1972 to 2003, which was an ongoing source of contention due to toxic air emissions and unforeseen costs which greatly contributed to the bankruptcy of the city. Since December 23, 2013, it is now owned by Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority (LCSWMA) and operated by Covanta.
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