#Radioactive Landfill: Tokyo Metropolitan Government Has Been Doing It Since May

Yokohama City residents had just enough time to get organized very quickly and were able to halt (for now) the start of dumping of radioactive sludge ashes into the ocean in their final processing facility at the end of Minami Honmoku Pier on Tokyo Bay.

Tokyo residents either did not have a chance to do so because they didn't know, or they didn't care.

It turns out that Tokyo Metropolitan government has been dumping sludge from its water purification plants and burned ashes from the sewer sludge from the sludge plants in its landfill in Tokyo Bay at least since late May. The huge landfill is right near the Haneda Airport. (Photo from the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Environment)

On June 3, Tokyo Metropolitan government announced the result of air radiation survey done on the landfill locations where the radioactive sludge and ashes were being dumped, and that's how some people (mostly bloggers as far as I've found) noticed it and wrote about it.

I remember reading a twitter or two about Tokyo already dumping radioactive ashes and sludge, but there was no substantiating info with those tweets and I didn't follow up. On checking the Tokyo government's site just now, I haven't found any announcement that they would start dumping the ashes and sludge into the landfill in Tokyo Bay.

Instead, on the Tokyo government's site, there is the announcement of June 3 about radiation levels measured at the locations plotted on the map below:

(Translation of the table titles and cells below is mine, not Tokyo government's.)

Sewer sludge ashes buried in Area (A), radiation measurements at 8 locations (microsievert/hr)

		Ａ１	Ａ２	Ａ３	Ａ４	Ａ５	Ａ６	Ａ７	Ａ８
Date of Measurement 5/25/2011	at 0.01 meter	0.27	0.34	0.33	0.23	0.24	0.50	0.29	0.22
	at 0.5 meter	0.25	0.33	0.29	0.20	0.24	0.55	0.28	0.24
	at 1.0 meter	0.25	0.33	0.29	0.19	0.24	0.55	0.28	0.24
Date of Measurement 6/1/2011	at 0.01 meter	0.26	0.32	0.32	0.24	0.23	0.55	0.29	0.23
	at 0.5 meter	0.26	0.32	0.32	0.21	0.24	0.55	0.29	0.23
	at 1.0 meter	0.24	0.33	0.29	0.20	0.24	0.55	0.29	0.24

Sluge from water purification plants buried in Area (B), radiation measurement at 7 locations (microsievert/hr)

		Ｂ１	Ｂ２	Ｂ３	Ｂ４	Ｂ５	Ｂ６	Ｂ７
Date of Measurement 5/25/2011	at 0.01 meter	0.19	0.36	0.21	0.25	0.33	0.43	0.36
	at 0.5 meter	0.21	0.70	0.19	0.45	0.34	0.45	0.36
	at 1.0 meter	0.21	0.80	0.18	0.50	0.37	0.46	0.36
Date of Measurement 6/1/2011	at 0.01 meter	0.19	0.35	0.18	0.24	0.33	0.41	0.37
	at 0.5 meter	0.20	0.65	0.18	0.46	0.40	0.43	0.39
	at 1.0 meter	0.21	0.65	0.18	0.55	0.47	0.43	0.40

The Bureau of Environment announcement says the facility accepts "sewer sludge ashes and sludge from water purification plants are accepted if they are mixed with cement or if they are wetted". (下水汚泥焼却灰、上水スラッジは、セメント混練りや湿潤化したものを受け入れている) The Bureau also says that they pile dirt on top of the fill for "appropriate management" of the sludge and ashes buried there.

The radiation levels looks pretty high to me for all the supposed precautions. What's peculiar is that the sludge from water purification plants generally tested higher than the sewer sludge ashes, and that there is no discernible difference between the measurement close to the surface and the measurement at 1 meter.

Why are these politicians and city bureaucrats so eager to burn and bury radioactive materials? Because they don't know? Because they think it's safe, as the national government says? Because they are in denial and think nothing has changed since March 11? If the answer is the latter two, why don't they then openly announce it and let the residents know?