#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?

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("Now They Tell Us" Series) #Radiation in Tokyo: 2.7 Microsieverts/Hr Air Radiation Inside Sewage Treatment Facility in Ota-ku, Tokyo

2.7 microsieverts per hour air radiation level is the highest ever detected in Tokyo so far, and almost the same air radiation level as Iitate-mura in Fukushima Prefecture, which is designated as "planned evacuation zone".

So, what is the excuse by the Tokyo Metropolitan government for withholding this information? "It was detected inside the building. The radiation was no problem at the perimeter of the facility."

It's not even a good excuse.

From Yomiuri Shinbun (2:33PM JST 6/8/2011):

東京都大田区の下水処理施設内の空気中から、毎時約２・７マイクロ・シーベルトの放射線量が検出されていたことが、都の調査で分かった。

The survey by the Tokyo Metropolitan government revealed that the 2.7 microsieverts/hour radiation was detected in the air inside the sewage treatment facility in Ota-ku, Tokyo.

　計画的避難区域の福島県飯舘村の放射線量と同程度で、文部科学省によると、都内でこれほどの放射線量が検出されたのは 初めて。放射性物質を含む汚泥の影響とみられるが、都は「検出場所は屋内。敷地の境界では問題なく、誤解を招く恐れがある」とし、調査結果を公表していな かった。

The radiation level is almost the same as in Iitate-mura in Fukushima Prefecture which is designated as "planned evacuation zone". According to the Ministry of Education and Science, it is the highest air radiation level ever detected in Tokyo. The radiation is considered to have come from the radioactive sewage sludge, but the Tokyo Metropolitan government didn't disclose the survey result, because "it was detected inside the facility. There was no problem on the facility's perimeter, and it would have caused confusion if we had disclosed the result."

　都によると、この施設は都下水道局の「南部スラッジプラント」で、都内２か所の下水処理場で発生した汚泥を集めて焼却し、灰を東京湾に埋め立てる などしている。都の５月の調査では、この施設の焼却灰から１キロ・グラム当たり１万５４０ベクレルの放射性セシウムを検出していた。

According to the Tokyo Metropolitan government, the facility is "Nanbu [Southern] Sludge Plant", which collects sewage sludge from two sewage treatment centers in Tokyo and burn it, and bury the ashes in the landfill on the Tokyo Bay. In the government survey in May, 10,540 becquerels/kilogram of radioactive cesium was detected from the slag from this plant.

As this blog posted back in May, "Tobu [Eastern] Sludge Plant" in Koto-ku had 170,000 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium in the slag, which had already been sold as cement material. I hate to think how high their air radiation level was inside the plant.

More about → ("Now They Tell Us" Series) #Radiation in Tokyo: 2.7 Microsieverts/Hr Air Radiation Inside Sewage Treatment Facility in Ota-ku, Tokyo