Osaka Heavy Metal Immunity

[Mulboyne]

Osaka Amenity Park
Japan Times: Condo pollution coverup results in no indictments
Osaka prosecutors said Friday they will not charge the presidents of Mitsubishi Estate and Mitsubishi Materials...for their alleged involvement in concealing from buyers that the ground at an Osaka condominium complex was contaminated with toxic heavy metals...The prosecutors said they took into account that the two companies...admitted they failed to notify condo buyers...and that they apologized...They also apparently took into consideration plans by Takagi and Nishikawa to step down as presidents...and the settlement that has been reached between the companies and the condo residents...Mitsubishi Estate and Mitsubishi Materials initially claimed they had not thought the contamination was an important fact that they were required by law to reveal to buyers...A condominium owner said it was unfair for the prosecutors to drop the case against the Mitsubishi firms...He said the settlement with the Mitsubishi group firms was reached by directors of the condo residents' board without the approval of all the residents.

[dimwit]

Very, very common. Site mitigation/revetment is almost never done in Japan, unless there is a public scream. The usual solution to contaiminated sites is to pave them over. Consequently few condominium sites in Japan would EVER pass North America environmental standards.

Furthermore most Japanese have little knowledge of what their land was was being used for in the past. Having surveyed many of my students, many blithely assume that there urban land was previously farmland.

I wonder what the condo board of directors got for their wonderfully compliant behavior? I love the way you can get away with fraud by apologizing.

[Maths Dude]

IF ever Japan makes the laws more strict, there will be plenty of work for environmental engineers like me! (well soon to be)

[Charles]

IF ever Japan makes the laws more strict, there will be plenty of work for environmental engineers like me! (well soon to be)

I think you might have the wrong idea about Japanese environmental engineering. The typical solution to every environmental problem is to put concrete on top of it.