Environment Nakatosa Town, Kochi Prefecture Conflicts over Waste Disposal Facility - 2007

Environment Nakatosa Town, Kochi Prefecture Conflicts over Waste Disposal Facility - 2007

In 2007, Nakatosa Town, Kochi Prefecture, was the scene of a heated debate over a plan to build a final waste disposal facility. The proposed site is located near a water source, and residents were concerned about the risk of groundwater contamination, and opposition to the project grew with each passing day. The town conducted an environmental impact assessment, and as a countermeasure, the town proposed to introduce the latest engineering technology, such as the installation of impervious sheets and a leachate treatment system. However, due to the uncertainty of the ground conditions and lack of trust in the technology, the project failed to gain the understanding of residents. The town council was split in two, and the division of the community became more serious.

This was due in part to the Basic Law for Establishing a Recycling-based Society, which came into effect in 2000. In the early 2000s, regional disputes over waste disposal facilities broke out frequently throughout Japan, and the Nakatosa case can be seen as part of a chain of such disputes. At the time, the local population was declining and depopulating, while demand for waste disposal from urban areas was surging, forcing residents to make a hard choice between environmental preservation and regional development.

In the end, this issue went beyond the mere pros and cons of constructing a repository, and became a social theme that called into question the nature of resident autonomy and environmental policy. Despite technological advances, the project did not do enough to allay the fears and distrust of local residents, highlighting the gulf between environmental technology and the formation of social consensus.