Unknowingly Building an Incinerator: Resident Issues in Izumi City
Even city councilors didn’t know
How would you feel if, in the town where you live, a large-scale industrial waste incinerator project was advancing without most of the citizens knowing about it? This is the situation faced by the residents of Izumi City, located in the southern part of Osaka.
A local media professional explains:
“A large-scale industrial waste incinerator is being planned for completion next year. Osaka Prefecture, which holds the permit authority, has already progressed with the environmental assessment and is in its final evaluation stage. The planned construction site is near residential areas, and experts suggest that pollution, including dioxins, could affect some parts of the neighboring city of Kishiwada.
The problem is that most citizens are unaware of this situation. Not only the citizens but also the city councilors have not widely recognized the project, leading to doubts being raised about the city’s public relations efforts. Concerned about environmental damage, a number of residents have begun to organize into a citizen movement.”
Southern Osaka is an area known for its thriving agriculture, and a significant portion of the citizens are farmers. Farmers from Izumi and Kishiwada cities have been at the forefront of protests against the city and the development companies. FRIDAY Digital managed to contact one of the activists involved in this movement. Kaho Yoshioka (a pseudonym), who has been involved in this activity for over a year and lives in Kishiwada, expresses her frustration:
“In October 2023, I participated in a petition against the construction of a waste incinerator in the neighboring town of Tadaoka. I became suspicious when the mayor, who was elected on a platform of opposing waste incinerators, reversed his position. There was a town council member who passionately pursued this issue, and thanks to them, I learned about the potential environmental pollution from dioxins and the possible damage to crops.
It was during this process that I learned about the construction plan in Izumi City. My home is located in an area that will be directly impacted by this, and it became clear that even popular new residential areas would be affected. Within a 3-km radius of the planned site, there are large commercial facilities, retail stores, and road stations. I feel a strong sense of urgency that most of the citizens are unaware of this reality.”
They request the dilution of exhaust gases
“Isn’t it the city’s responsibility to make sure the public knows? Most citizens are unaware of the incinerator construction plan. The process of the plan moving forward with people being informed and agreeing is completely different from it moving forward without public knowledge. We plan to demand the city fulfill its responsibility to inform.”
Some farmers near the planned construction site have already shut down their businesses.
In the political world, some have begun to raise questions and take action. Eiichi Isha, a 78-year-old city councilor from Kishiwada. Isha, who holds a doctorate in engineering from Osaka City University and has long been involved in environmental issues, has been in discussions with experts and has been speaking with the Osaka Prefecture, Izumi City, and the developers. Isha and his colleagues strongly advocate for increasing the height of the planned 50-meter chimney to 150 meters to help disperse and dilute the exhaust gases.
“At 50 meters, there is a risk of a downdraft phenomenon (where smoke emitted from the chimney is caught in the vortex behind a building downwind, causing it to descend and stagnate) when strong winds blow. This can be resolved by making the chimney taller. Simply put, the higher the chimney, the lower the concentration of exhaust gases. This is agreed upon by experts, including university professors. Also, the stoker-type incinerators in the plan are likely to generate 10 to 40 times more harmful dioxins compared to current incinerators. We do not trust the environmental assessment conducted by Osaka Prefecture.”
Last fall, Isha submitted an information disclosure request to Osaka Prefecture for the meeting minutes of the review process. He believed that transparency in the environmental assessment was essential. However, what he received from the prefecture were meeting minutes with many parts blacked out.
The following article, “【Mostly Blacked Out】Unbelievable Responses Received from Osaka Prefecture Regarding the Waste Incinerator Construction Issue in Izumi City,” will provide a detailed report on the unbelievable response document received from Osaka Prefecture after the information disclosure request.
Read the second part of the article “【Mostly Blacked Out】The Incredible Response from Osaka Prefecture Regarding the Industrial Waste Incinerator Construction Issue in Izumi City, Osaka.”
PHOTO： Kyodo News
