Ministry to reveal more dioxin data

April 21, 1999

Sources: Asahi Shimbun

The decision to release the information is expected to encourage emission control efforts.

The Health and Welfare Ministry will publish the names of privately-operated incinerator facilities that exceed legal cancer-inducing dioxin emission limits, ministry sources said today.  

It also decided to release data on dioxin emissions at all municipal government incinerating facilities, the sources said.  

The decision was made in response to growing demands for disclosure of information on incinerating facilities that are believed to be a main dioxin pollution source.  

The ministry is expected to soon issue a notice to prefectural governments, the sources said.  

It will disclose information on a private facility--including its name, density of dioxin emitted and the progress in emission control efforts--if the facility fails to observe the emission standard stipulated in the Wastes Disposal and Public Cleaning Law, the sources said.  

The decision to release the information is expected to encourage incinerating facilities to take the lead in emission control efforts, the sources said.  

They said the ministry will require prefectural governments, which have the authority to approve a incinerator facility's operation, to report to the ministry about dioxin emissions. The ministry will then publish the data, the sources said.  

Under the revised wastes disposal law, incinerating facilities are required to measure dioxin density discharge at least once in a year.  

The legal limit on dioxin emission for facilities is 80 nanograms per 1-cubic-meter of emission smoke. 1 nanogram is a billionth gram.  

[HOME]