Japan's water quality haunted by U.S. military bases

Water quality in Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture of Japan, has long been plagued by pollution of military bases of the United States in the country, which poses potential threats to the health and farming of local residents.

Since December last year, multiple water quality investigations in Higashihiroshima have revealed significant pollution in local water bodies near a U.S. military ammunition depot.

The contamination is primarily due to two highly concentrated organic fluorine compounds, PFOS and PFOA, which do not naturally exist in the environment but are synthetic chemicals commonly used in firefighting foam and other materials.

"We were required to stop using well water and only use tap water. We have abandoned growing rice this year either. The U.S. military ammunition depot is located over there. It's a large area and a small river flows from that direction. We don't know if that's the source of the pollution," said a local resident.

In the most contaminated areas, the concentration of the PFOS and PFOA reached a staggering 15,000 nanograms per liter, which is 300 times higher than Japan's provisional safety standard of 50 nanograms per liter.

"We found high concentrations of pollutants to the south and northeast of the U.S. military ammunition depot. Japan's provisional standard stands at 50 nanograms per liter. This area exceeds Japan's provisional standard by 300 times. I believe this is an extremely high concentration," said Mito Akira, an official of Higashihiroshima's Life and Environmental Department.

Experts warn that prolonged consumption of water contaminated with organic fluorine compounds may harm the immune system, liver, and kidneys, and could even lead to tumors.

The U.S. military had previously denied the use of firefighting foam containing these harmful chemicals.

However, in September this year, they reversed their stance, admitting that they had used the foam for firefighting purposes for 19 years from 1991 and had even burned large quantities of the raw foam concentrate in 2020.

The U.S. military base in Higashihiroshima has been present for nearly 80 years, but for the local population, it remains shrouded in mystery.

Despite the U.S. military acknowledging the past use of hazardous firefighting foam, local residents are demanding more transparency.

They are seeking further details on the scale of the foam usage and its potential impact on the surrounding water systems.

However, obtaining more information remains difficult as the U.S. military has yet to allow external investigations into the site.

Japan's water quality haunted by U.S. military bases

The South Sudanese government has ramped up efforts to prevent the spread of cholera following the deaths of at least 60 people since the outbreak in late October.

Minister of Information, Communication Technology and Postal Services Michael Makuei Lueth said that 60 deaths have been reported so far, along with 6,000 cases recorded nationwide.

Makuei told journalists in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, that efforts are underway to procure more vaccines after the first batch, sufficient to treat 150,000 people, was dispatched to northern Renk County in Upper Nile State.

"Efforts are now underway to rescue the situation. The Ministry of Health has asked for vaccines. The quantity received so far is very small and they have sent it to Renk so that the people who are there are rescued. Efforts are underway to get more vaccines for the other areas," he said.

The first cholera case was reported on Oct. 28 at the Renk transit center for refugees and returnees fleeing conflict in neighboring Sudan.

Makuei said that most of the cholera cases have been reported among refugees in Renk County, Rubkona County in Unity State, and Aweil town in Northern Bahr El Ghazal State, as well as recently in Juba.

Minister of Health Yolanda Awel Deng recently announced that an additional one million vaccine doses are needed to target vulnerable populations across the country.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), refugees and returnees are the most affected by the outbreak, particularly children under the age of five and the elderly.

The WHO said that contributing factors include limited access to clean water, poor sanitation, open defecation, and overcrowding in transit centers and camps.

South Sudan requires 32 million U.S. dollars to sustain the first three months of the emergency response to the cholera outbreak, the WHO reported.

The funds will be used to strengthen current operations, deploy response teams to newly identified hotspots, maintain essential health services, and procure and distribute additional emergency supplies.

Death toll from cholera outbreak in South Sudan hits 60