Dioxins, other toxins confirmed from soccer field drum cans

In June 2013 fifteen drum cans were discovered buried in an Okinawa City soccer field that was built on a returned former base land by the Okinawa Minami Exit of Okinawa Expressway, and subsequent search found more buried drum cans in the area. Many suspected that the cans had contained herbicides that were used in Vietnam during the war, a claim that the U.S. military has denied.

After taking and examining samples from the soil in the area and the contents of the cans the Okinawa Defense Bureau announced June 29th that they have detected 21,000 times the environmental standard level of dioxins from the samples taken from the contents of the drum cans.

Inspectors also detected dioxins from all 17 residue samples taken from drum cans found this February, including 455,000 times the average level of dichloromethane, a known carcinogenic. In addition to dioxins, arsenic and PCB were also found in the cans.

Okinawa Defense Bureau officials added that they have recovered and removed all drum cans, polluted soil and water from the area.

19:20 28 Mar , 2024