Japanese government confirms volcanic ash response guidelines at the beginning of the year
Marine Pollution Prevention Act ‘Prohibition of Dumping’ exception applied
When the eruption occurred at the level of 1707, it piled up more than 30cm.
The amount of waste generated is 10 times that of the East Japan Earthquake.
Mount Fuji, Japan. [EPA 연합뉴스]
Japan has decided to allow ocean dumping of accumulated volcanic ash in case a large amount of volcanic ash hits the metropolitan area due to an eruption of Mount Fuji.
According to estimates by Japan’s Central Disaster Prevention Council, if Mount Fuji erupts on the scale of the ‘Hoei eruption’ in 1707, the amount of volcanic ash that would need to be removed would be 10 times that of the disaster waste generated during the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011.
On the 30th, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the Japanese government plans to discuss ocean dumping of volcanic ash at an expert meeting next month and reflect the policy in the volcanic ash response guidelines to be prepared next spring.
The Japanese government is reportedly considering temporarily storing volcanic ash in parks or playgrounds, but has decided to allow ocean dumping as there is a high possibility of a shortage of land. Japan’s Marine Pollution Prevention Act, in principle, prohibits dumping waste into the sea, but it is interpreted that dumping is allowed if the environmental situation determines that there is urgency.
Japan’s Central Disaster Prevention Council analyzed and announced the impact of volcanic ash, assuming the same scale as the past Hoei eruption in 2020. According to this, in the worst case, after Mt. Fuji erupts, about 10 cm of volcanic ash will accumulate in downtown Tokyo, and more than 30 cm of volcanic ash will accumulate in Kanagawa and Yamanashi prefectures close to Mt. Fuji. The maximum amount of volcanic ash that needs to be removed is approximately 490 million ㎥, which requires the deployment of over 1,000 pieces of heavy equipment to remove it every day.
The Yomiuri Shimbun reported, “Mt. Fuji has not erupted for over 300 years since the eruption in 1707,” and “it appears to have had the longest eruption gap in the past 5,000 years.”
During the Hoei eruption, which began on December 16, 1707, the volcanic ash blown by the wind in the sky continued to fall like rain for 16 days and has now reached downtown Tokyo. The amount of volcanic ash that erupted at the time is estimated to be 1.7 billion ㎥.
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2023-12-31 04:19:15
