Veterans for Peace demonstration in Okinawa calls out Marines for contamination
September 23, 2023
By Pat Elder
September 22, 2023 - VFP activists Rachel Clark and Ken’ichi Narikawa are joined by Okinawan activist Akino Miyagi while blocking the entrance of USMC Camp Gonsalves with bags of potentially hazardous materials.
Most of us have never heard of the USMC Camp Gonsalves Jungle Warfare Training Center in a very remote area of Okinawa, Japan, but the locals are very aware of the base and they don’t like the place for lots of reasons.
We participated in an action organized by Akino Miyagi, a brilliant woman who has been calling out the Marines for their careless “stewardship” of the environment. Over the years Akino has scoured the outside perimeter of the sprawling complex and has detected various hazardous materials in the ground. It’s a big deal to the Okinawans because the Marines “returned” the land to the Okinawan prefectural government back in the 1990’s. It should be mentioned that the U.S. - Japan Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) tactfully pardoned the U.S. military from clean-up responsibilities, unlike other SOFA agreements executed between the U.S. and other nations.
Akino has documented radioactive waste, unexploded ordinance, (UXO), and hazardous materials littered throughout the area.
She had a brilliant idea for an action, and we helped her carry it out. The plan called for the three of us (Ken’ichi Narikawa, Rachel Clark, Pat Elder) to accompany Akino deep into the jungle to the site of an old training area. We put on protective gloves, moved some soil around and collected things like parts of batteries, broken bottles, discarded gauze, engine parts, etc. We found scattered American beer bottles and shards. We bagged the potentially hazardous materials while we were accompanied by cameramen from two TV stations and reporters from two newspapers. We blocked traffic from entering or leaving the installation for over an hour. The bags had signs that said, “These bags contain potentially hazardous materials.”
We walked a few hundred meters to the main gate of Camp Gonsalves and placed a half dozen bags containing the materials we collected at the entrance of the base. We blocked U.S. military vehicles from entering or leaving the installation for over an hour.
The Okinawan Police never asked us to leave. With the sweltering afternoon heat reaching 100 degrees, we left on our own accord. One TV station ran the segment that evening and the other three outlets are expected to publish their stories.
Please see the brief video here:
https://www.facebook.com/pat.elder1/videos/3550041071878605/
On prior trips to the area, Akino found this UXO, purported to be a 55 mm round.
Financial support from the Downs Law Group makes it possible for us to test water for PFAS here in Japan and everywhere else around the world where U.S. bases are poisoning people. The firm is working to provide legal representation to individuals with a high likelihood of exposure to PFAS and other contaminants.
The Downs Law Group employs attorneys accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs to assist those who have served in obtaining VA Compensation and Pension Benefits they are rightly owed.
If you spent time in the military and you think you may be sick as a result of your service, think about joining this group to learn from others with similar issues. Are you interested in joining a multi-base class action lawsuit pertaining to illnesses stemming from various kinds of environmental contamination?
Join the Veterans & Civilians Clean Water Alliance Facebook group. (2.4 K members and growing rapidly.)