RESTORING THE TOXIC ISLAND

摘要

Teshima is a small island of 14 square kilometers on Japan's picturesque Seto Inland Sea. The main sources of income for its 1,300 inhabitants are fishing and cultivation of rice, and fruits such as mandarin oranges and strawberries. Teshima is well known for being Japan's largest dumping ground for toxic industrial waste. From 1978 until 1990, illegal operators dumped more than 500,000 tons of shredder dust from scrapped vehicles and other waste onto Teshima. Under the guise of "metal recovery," these operators burned the waste in the open, emitting high-density dioxins into the atmosphere. Rainfall caused heavy metals such as lead and cadmium to leach into the ground, polluting the ground water and eventually the surrounding seashore. In an area of more than 70,000 square meters around the dumping ground, the natural environment was poisoned. The Kagawa Prefectural Government at the time was grossly negligent by failing to provide appropriate supervision over these operators.