Memories of Forgotten Disposal: The Toshima Incident, 1975-2022
Teshima is a small island in the Seto Inland Sea. The tranquility of the island was broken by the illegal dumping of industrial waste that began in 1975. Waste oil, acid, and chemical sludge were brought in and dumped haphazardly in the island's valleys, sometimes by open burning. The black smoke scorched the sky and the stench stung the nose. But the government turned a blind eye, and for a long time the residents' voices went unheard.
In 1990, the residents filed a lawsuit against Kagawa Prefecture. After a 10-year struggle, a settlement was reached in 2000. The industrial waste was moved to Naoshima, where it was incinerated and recycled at Mitsubishi Materials' facilities. The amount of waste removed was approximately 910,000 tons. Nature has gradually begun to take its course toward recovery, but it will take more than 20 years and a huge amount of money to complete the process by 2022.
In 2018, 85 tons of sludge was newly discovered at the site of the removal. The waste was again found on the land that had taken so long to dispose of. Teshima is still in the process of regeneration, carrying with it the memory of its forgotten disposal.
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