http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/03/radioactive-sewage-sludge-and-incinerated-ash-is-stocked-100000-tones-in-12-prefectures/

Radioactive sewage sludge and incinerated ash stocked 100,000 tones in 12 prefectures

Posted by Mochizuki on March 3rd, 2012 · No Comments

Radioactive sewage sludge and incinerated ash is stocked 100,000 tones in 12 prefectures

At the moment of 2/3/2012, in 12 prefectures, radioactive contaminated sewage sludge and incinerated ash are 97,000 tones, which is 360 % of the amount of last July.

Fukushima 30,000 tones (↑ 25,220 tones since July)
Miyagi 22,000 tones (↑ 19,900 tones since July)
Kanagawa 19,000 tones (↑ 14,690 tones since July)
Saitama 9,500 tones (↑ 6,790 tones since July)

Radioactive contaminated hay is stocked 6,800 tones in 8 prefectures too.

Miyagi 4,800 tones
Fukushima 1,100 tones
Iwate 600 tones
Tochigi 320 tones

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan allows the farmers to mix the radioactive contaminated hay into the soil of the farms but most of the farmers are refusing doing it for their morals.

On the contrast, Sagamihara city Kanagawa decided to incinerate contaminated grass and dead leaves as normal garbage if it’s less than 8000 Bq/Kg.

Sagamihara city government has been removing soil, grass and dead leaves from where they measured higher than 0.23 microSv/h at 5 cm above the ground for decontamination at 1288 facilites such as school, park, and public facility.

The ash will be buried with other normal incinerated ash in Minami ku Yokohama if it’s lower than 8,000 Bq/Kg. Currently, they stock 14 tones of contaminated dead leaves and grass. They are to be buried to the ground without being incinerated.

Source 1 2

相模原市は２日、市の基準を超える空間放射線量が測定された場所の落ち葉や草などの廃棄物について、放射能濃度が１キロ当たり８千ベクレル以下のものは焼却処分する方針を発表した。

除染で取り除いたものについて、県内の多くの自治体が保管を続ける一方、保管された一部が野ざらし状態になっていることを問題視した同市が、１月に施行された放射性物質汚染対処特措法を受けて判断した。

市はこれまで、学校や公園、公共施設など１２８８施設の空間放射線量を測定。地上５センチの高さで市が暫定基準値として定めた毎時０・23マイクロシーベルトを超えた場所や、線量が高いことが想定される地点の土壌や落ち葉、草を取り除いて袋に入れ、施設の敷地内に保管し、立ち入りを制限していた。

１キロ当たり８千ベクレル以下の落ち葉や草は、２清掃工場で一般の廃棄物とともに焼却。焼却灰は一般廃棄物最終処分場（南区）に埋める。８千ベクレルを超えた焼却灰は、国に処理を求める。

市によると、各施設で現在保管している土壌や落ち葉の合計は１４４０袋。１袋の量は最大で10キロ程度で、計14トン程度を見込んでいる。ただ、現状で落ち葉や草は土壌と同じ袋で保管されているため、すべて土中に埋めるという。
東京電力福島第１原発事故によって放射性セシウムに汚染され処理できない稲わらが、宮城や福島など８道県で約６８００トンに上ることが、毎日新聞の調査で分かった。国土交通省のまとめでは、同様に下水処理場で保管中の下水汚泥や焼却灰も、１２都県で約９万７０００トンに達し、昨年７月時点の３．６倍に増えた。国は１キロ当たり８０００ベクレル以下なら埋め立て可能との基準を示すが、そうした廃棄物の処理も進まず、国の対策が機能していない実情が浮かんだ。汚染稲わらは、牛肉の放射性セシウム汚染の原因として問題となった。保管量が最も多いのは宮城の４８００トンで、福島１１００トン、岩手６００トン、栃木３２０トンと続く。

下水処理場に保管されている放射性セシウムを含む下水汚泥や焼却灰は２月３日現在、福島が３万トンで最も多く、昨年７月時点より２万５２２０トンも増えた。次いで、宮城２万２０００トン（昨年７月比１万９９００トン増）▽神奈川１万９０００トン（同１万４６９０トン増）▽埼玉９５００トン（同６７９０トン増）−−となっている。
放射性物質汚染対処特別措置法に基づき、放射性セシウム濃度が１キロ当たり８０００ベクレル超の廃棄物の埋め立て処分には、遮水シート敷設などが必要だ。それ以下の廃棄物は、通常の廃棄物と同様の処分ができる。
ところが、「下水汚泥や焼却灰の大半は８０００ベクレル以下」（国交省）。稲わらも岩手の半分の３００トンは８０００ベクレル以下など、状況は似通っている。国交省の担当者は「汚染を心配する住民の反対もあり、自治体による処分が思うように進んでいない」と話し、有効な対策を見いだせていない。農水省は８０００ベクレル以下の稲わらについて、「水田にすき込むことも可能」としているが、抵抗を感じる農家が多いことなどから、一時保管されているとみられる。【まとめ・曽田拓、樋岡徹也】
2012年03月03日 08時

and....

Contamination level is increasing in Tokyo Bay

Posted by Mochizuki on March 2nd, 2012 · 3 Comments

Following up this article..Tama river fish contaminated

Cesium is carried from the rivers to Tokyo Bay.

Prof. Yamazaki from Kinki university measured cesium contained sea ground soil at 36 points of Tokyo bay. The result shows the contamination level is increasing near the outlet of Arakawa river. He assumes cesium is carried from contaminated river.

(5 cm deep in the sea ground, cesium 134 and 137)

8/2011 : 308 Bq/Kg

10/2011 : 476 Bq/Kg(↑155%)

12/2011 : 511 Bq/Kg(↑107%)

It’s in the increasing trend at many other points too. Cesium level is higher near the river than the center of Tokyo Bay.

He also measured how deep cesium 134 is contained in the sea ground at 4 points near a river. As the result, cesium was measured already 24~26 cm deep underground.　Usually, mud is deposited 1~2cm yearly near the outlet of a river. Prof. Yamazaki assumes cesium may have been carried by benthic organism.

and....

ONE YEAR AFTER THE DISASTER / Quake-hit areas still struggling with debris

The Yomiuri Shimbun

A 20-meter-high mountain of debris in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on Thursday

"'Completely'? Don't lie!"

"How will you take responsibility if radioactive substances affect our health?"

Participants cried out in indignation and jeered at Kanagawa Gov. Yuji Kuroiwa when he met with residents of the prefecture at the Kanagawa prefectural government office in January. The meeting was held to discuss the prefecture's plan to accept debris from areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, including Iwate Prefecture.

Kuroiwa is willing to accept debris from quake-hit areas, but some residents alleged that it contained radioactive materials emitted from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Some of the 200 participants at the meeting howled at the Kanagawa governor when he explained how the incinerated ashes of debris would be stored.

"In this way, incinerated ash will be completely contained," Kuroiwa said, writing his explanation on a board.

Takao Kudo, head of the environment and livelihood department of the Iwate prefectural government, accompanied Kuroiwa to the meeting and bowed his head as he heard residents' cries.

"The radiation level of the debris is less than 100 becquerels per kilogram," Kudo told them. "We hate to worry you, but we ask for your kind cooperation."

A huge amount of debris left by tsunami following the March 11 earthquake remains in quake-hit areas. Removal has progressed slowly.

The disaster created 22.53 million tons of debris in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, but only 5.6 percent has so far been disposed of permanently.

The prefectural governments of Iwate and Miyagi are asking other prefectures across the nation to accept about 4 million tons of debris.

At a temporary storage site in the Kawaguchicho district of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, a mountain of debris stands like a pyramid. In about one year, it has reached four layers and 20 meters high.

To remove methane gas from inside the debris mountain, an excavator recently dug holes and inserted pipes into the mountain. Hot white vapor rose up from the trash.

"We don't want to create such tall debris mountains, due to the risk of fire. But there was no other place," said a man assigned to supervise the temporary storage by the Ishinomaki city government.

Ishinomaki's central area was almost submerged by tsunami, and the amount of debris there reached 6.16 million tons. That was nearly 30 percent of the total amount in the three prefectures hit hardest by the disaster, and equal to the city's normal trash production for 106 years.

Mitsuo Murakami, head of the city's disaster waste disposal department, said, "We hope people living in other areas of the country will understand our predicament."

The Environment Ministry has not actively explained in detail about debris from quake-hit areas because it did not want to agitate residents who oppose accepting the debris.

"The ministry will decide on a guideline and then let people at the working level handle the rest," an Environment Ministry official said critically of his government body, which has fewer staff than other ministries.

The official added, "The ministry thinks it better to leave things to mayors of concerned municipalities, who have political power."

However, public fears of radiation were more serious and stronger than ministry officials expected.

Environment Minister Goshi Hosono has become increasingly frustrated with the slow progress ahead of the first anniversary of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Hosono has called employees of large advertising agencies to his office almost every day to discuss strategy to appeal to the public directly.

In Fukushima Prefecture, a project to decontaminate areas tainted with radioactive substances is set to start on a scale unprecedented in the world.

The no-entry and expanded evacuation zones around the crippled nuclear power plant, in which the central government is in charge of decontamination, will be reorganized in April into three new zones depending on their radiation levels.

The government will start decontamination from areas where radiation levels are low, to help realize residents' early return.

However, locations have still not been chosen for intermediate storage facilities to hold up to 28 million cubic meters of contaminated soil.

The government intends to decide on locations for temporary storage facilities by the end of March 2013 and bring contaminated soil there from 2015.

However, opinion is divided among eight municipal governments in Futaba County near the power plant, among whom there is strong distrust of the central government.

The delay in building the storage facilities threatens to drag down restoration efforts.

and...

Tokyo Starts to Burn Onagawa Debris in Earnest at Incineration Plants for Regular Household Garbage in 23 Special Wards

Residents of those 23 Special Wards ("ku") had zero say in the decision. The decision was unanimously reached by the Assembly of Mayors of the 23 Special Wards, and the decision was quickly welcomed by the Tokyo Metropolitan government and the project of burning the disaster (radioactive) debris from Onagawa-machi in Miyagi Prefecture immediately started in December with the test incineration.

After the so-called "explanation" to the residents was done in the Special Wards, now the formality has been over. It's time to burn the debris no matter what. The first containers arrived at Chuo Waste Management Plant in Chuo-ku on March 2.

The governor of Tokyo and the mayors of the 23 Special Wards of Tokyo are so eager to "help out" people in the disaster-affected areas in Tohoku (where the radioactive fallout also landed) that they are willing to burn the disaster debris with radioactive materials, toxic chemicals, arsenic, asbestos, and no one knows what else, in the incineration plants with no special facilities to treat radioactive materials. These plants are often located in the middle of crowded residential/commercial areas with single-family homes, apartments, shops, schools, hospitals, small factories. When they are located on the landfills on Tokyo Bay, they are often close to public facilities like parks, schools, hotels.

These plants are not even for industrial waste; they burn regular garbage from households.From Google Maps, some of the incineration plants in Tokyo's 23 Wards. The first two are the lucky two to receive the first batch of tsunami-soaked wood chips from Onagawa for the month of March:

Koto-ku: