The following message is provided on behalf of 18th Wing Commander Brig Gen Hecker: Men and Women of the Kadena Air Base Community, I am aware of the concerns expressed over the discovery of unexplained barrels under Okinawa City’s soccer field between the Okinawa Expressway and Prefectural Highway 23. Our kids are our #1 priority, and we are doing everything possible to stay abreast of new information and address our community members’ concerns. I want to assure you that I am fully focused on this issue and all evidence points to these barrels posing no threat to the people on Kadena Air Base, and specifically to the students and employees at our schools. We understand your concerns, and as such plan to host a town hall at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday (Jan. 28) at Ryukyu Middle School on Kadena Air Base to share further information and address your questions. The discovery of barrels under the Okinawa City soccer field is being thoroughly investigated by the host nation, and they have full control of the site. They plan to publish a full report later this year, and we will ensure the results are publicized within our community. To this point their testing has found evidence of petroleum oils, heat-resistant oils and dioxins on some of the barrels themselves; however, the soil across the soccer field around the barrels has been tested and does not exceed Japanese environmental quality standards. There is no evidence the materials on the barrels have migrated at all. Moreover, the entire space between the soccer fields and the base is designed to draw substances away from the schools. Based on the site set-up alone, it is highly improbable that any material from the Okinawa City soccer field could have reached the schools on Kadena Air Base. There has been significant speculation as to what might have been contained within the barrels originally, and at this point we do not definitively know. There have been three studies thus far conducted by local officials, and those results did not lead to a specific answer. To get the full information, we will need to wait for the results of the host-nation study. Although we believe the area to be completely safe, we have collected and analyzed survey samples of soil and air around the schools on Kadena Air Base. All samples have come back well within environmental safety standards, but we plan to conduct an additional round of more stringent compliance sampling in the area in order to provide additional reassurance to parents and community members. Finally, there have been some concerns expressed about the drinking water in the schools. Let me stress that all of Kadena Air Base’s drinking water is drawn from commercial sources unrelated to the site where the barrels were discovered. Additionally, the base ensures high quality drinking water by running a strict compliance water-sampling program and ensures that all drinking water meets or exceeds EPA standards. Any discrepancies found are published annually on the Internet in the Kadena Air Base Consumer Confidence Report, which can be downloaded at kadena.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-130610-056.pdf. In conclusion, I want to assure you that our kids are our #1 priority, and we are doing everything possible to stay abreast of any new information and address potential concerns. I look forward to seeing you in person at the town hall on Tuesday. -Brig Gen James Hecker 18th Wing Commander
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 00:44:26 +0000
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