"会報第19号：石炭運搬のトラックによる振動に悩む住民たち 土壌に捨てられる廃棄物、本当に大丈夫？", 24 Mar 2021

[Japanese-to-English translation: Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

The operation of the Kushiro Thermal Power Plant has caused large ground tremors as oversized trucks carrying coal frequently drive on roads between residential areas...Many residents have voiced their concerns to our committee. Some have reported that it feels like a magnitude 3 earthquake when trucks pass their neighborhoods while food service businesses have said the power station has disrupted their operations.

Kushiro city needs to address the ground tremors as quickly as possible. Furthermore, the Kushiro Thermal Power Station should comply with pollution control agreements and quickly develop countermeasures in agreement with neighboring residents to deal with the ground vibrations.

At the same time, our committee took a photo of a truck with a sign that reads "incinerated ashes", which was dumping its contents at the power station site. According to the plant operators, the disposed content was "cold water used to cool the condenser and filtered sludge". While it is a huge problem if the operators were disposing incinerated ashes, we are also concerned as to whether filtered sludge should be disposed of in this matter.

In addition, the operators have failed to provide a clear explanation of how they are disposing of coal ash. They should give us a full explanation...