Press Release

December 28, 2015
  • Water & Soil

Results of FY 2014 Survey of the Implementation of the Act to Prevent Soil Contamination on Agricultural Land

The MOE has been promoting the countermeasures against soil contamination on agricultural land with MAFF and compiled the results of the FY 2014 Survey of the Implementation of the Act to Prevent Soil Contamination on Agricultural Land. Under the Act, each prefectural governor shall continuously monitor the condition of agricultural land regarding soil pollution caused by Hazardous Substances (cadmium, copper and arsenic), and prefecture governors can designate the areas for countermeasures when the concentration of hazardous substances exceeds its limit.

Summary of the survey results:

(1) As a result of the continuous monitoring, in 3 areas the regulatory standard for cadmium was exceeded.

(2) One area was newly designated for countermeasures.

There was no area where a new plan for countermeasures was formulated.

The designation was all canceled in 1 area.

At the end of FY 2014, 73 areas have been designated in total. Among those areas, designation was all canceled in 56 areas and are still in place in 17 areas.

(3) At the end of FY 2014, 6,975 ha (91.9%) of all designated areas have completed their countermeasures.

The complete survey results can be accessed on the following website (Japanese only):
http://pwcms.env.go.jp/press/files/jp/28850.pdf

For Japanese

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