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CREATED:20230618T212000Z
DESCRIPTION:6/24/23 Berkeley Education/Action Meeting\n\nNo Radioactive Water Dumping  
 in Pacific Ocean at Fukushima \n\nJoin The US Campaign to Protect  
 California & The Pacific Rim From Radioactive Water Dumped From Fukushima 
 By The Japanese Kishida government\n\nEducation & Action Meeting\nSaturday 
 July 24th 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM\nBerkeley Main Public Library Community Room 
 3rd Floor\n2090 Kittredge St. Berkeley\n\n\nThe Japanese Kishida government 
 is planning to dump over 1.3 million tons of radioactive water with Tritium 
 into the Pacific ocean from the broke Fukushima nuclear reactors. Over 12 
 years ago the reactors melted down and they are still unable to remove the 
 melted nuclear rods. They cool\nthese rods with water that then becomes 
 contaminated and now they want to dump all this contaminated water into the 
 Pacific ocean threatening all countries on the Pacific rim.\nThe 
 fisherman’s association of Fukushima are against this as well as many 
 other people in Japan and around the world.\nThere are plans to get the 
 Berkeley City Council to oppose this and a resolution will be introduced at 
 an upcoming meeting. We will discuss\nthis at this education and organizing 
 meeting on July 24 and have speakers who want to expand this effort in 
 Northern California and the state\nas a whole. We need to get other city 
 councils, government bodies and all local, state and Federal elected 
 officials to oppose this release of the radioactive water.\nWe also need to 
 break the information blockade about the continuing disaster and the threat 
 to the Pacific ocean by this dumping of tritium water.\n\nIf you would like 
 to get more information, come to the meeting or contact us.\n\nKate 
 Harrison, Berkeley City Council is supporting a resolution to oppose 
 dumping of the radioactive water at the Berkeley City Council 
 (kharrison@cityofberkeley.info)Phone: (510) 981-7140\nWe need to push 
 Barbara Lee and Governor Newsom to take a stand against the dumping. Please 
 contact them.\n\nCongresswoman Barbara Lee: (510) 763-0370, 
 https://twitter.com/repbarbaralee Governor Gavin Newsom: (916) 445-2841, 
 https://www.tiktok.com/@cagovernor\n\nSupport Action by Berkeley City 
 Council and by All Cities, Government Agencies, State & Federal 
 Representatives\n\nIf you would like to get more information, come to the 
 meeting. \n\nNo Nukes Action 
 Committee\n\nhttp://nonukesaction.wordpress.com \n\nFor more information, 
 ontact us at chizuhamada@ gmail.com\n\nJapan Proposes to Dump Radioactive 
 Water into the 
 Pacific\nhttps://countercurrents.org/2023/04/japan-proposes-to-dump-radioactive-water-into-the-pacific/\n\nin 
 World — by Phil Pasquini —	14/04/2023 \nShare:\n\nShare on 
 WhatsApp\nShare on Facebook\nShare on Twitter\nShare on Telegram\nShare on 
 Reddit\nShare on Email\nFukushima\n\nActivists took to the streets today in 
 front of the Japanese Consulate to commemorate the 12th anniversary of the 
 second worst nuclear power accident in history demanding the Japanese 
 government not allow the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO) to dump 
 radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station into the 
 Pacific Ocean. They also called for “NO Nukes” for Japan and to shut 
 down all nuclear power plants.\n\nToday’s occasion was the 100th time the 
 protesters have demonstrated at the Consulate against nuclear energy in 
 warning of the ever-present Anthropocene pollution despoiling the planet. 
 Chizu Hamada of “No Nukes Action” led a small group of dedicated 
 activists in calling for the Japanese government not to release the 
 radioactive water.\n\nNoting that the Japanese people consume a great deal 
 of fish and that the contamination posed by the waters released into the 
 Pacific further increases the long-lasting negative health impacts for 
 people. “The sea is life, a matter of survival” for the Japanese she 
 said.\n\nThe ocean water off the coast of Fukushima was described in a 
 Detusche Welle article from 2020 as having “…millions of times higher 
 than the government’s limit of 100 becquerels.” Marine life as far as 
 25 miles out to sea from the plant has been shown to have high radiation 
 levels rendering fishing a nonstarter for locals.\n\n“Our voices must be 
 heard” was how Hamada expressed the need of attention to the looming 
 disaster and noted too that there are still 30,000 people who cannot go 
 back to their homes because of the meltdown. During her sidewalk talk she 
 remarked how Japanese scientists studying the area have warned of the 
 adverse effects that the release would have, which generally have been 
 ignored.\n\nAnother speaker related how as a child in the1940s and 50s she 
 would accompany her scientist father who was studying tunicates attached to 
 boats when he discovered that they were radioactive. He was able to 
 determine that the source of the radiation could be attributed to nuclear 
 bomb detonation tests in the South Pacific. A study published in the Marine 
 Pollution Bulletin in 1977 noted that tunicates “…may serve as marine 
 pollution indicators for monitoring the release of radioactive elements 
 into the marine environment.” Their ability to accumulate certain trace 
 radioactive elements can be used to determine the extent of marine 
 radioactive pollution making them the perfect canary in the sea.\n\nThe 
 event that caused the present problem at Fukushima was the 9.0-magnitude 
 Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. It was the largest ever 
 recorded to hit the island nation and caused a 46-foot-high tsunami (tidal 
 wave) to strike the plant. With only a ten-minute warning to shut down its 
 reactors, the tsunami damaged the plant’s emergency backup generators 
 shutting off power to its water-coolant pumps for the reactor’s cores. At 
 the time of the earthquake radioactive water from the plant flowed into the 
 ocean in “unprecedented” volume.\n\nThe tsunami’s impact resulted in 
 18,000 deaths, displaced 160,000 people and was so powerful that it shifted 
 the Earth off its axis by an estimated 6.5 inches increasing its rotation 
 that may have resulted in shortening our days according to a NASA 
 estimate.\n\nHeat generated from the rods in the cores was so intense in 
 reactor number one that it melted the concrete structure supporting the 
 containment vessel leaving it precariously suspended and in danger of 
 collapse. During the following days, the cores overheated leading to the 
 meltdown accompanied by hydrogen explosions. Radioactive material and water 
 were in turn released into the ocean and the surrounding area prompting the 
 evacuation of a wide zone around the plant.\n\nIn the twelve years since 
 the accident, according to activists, there are “1.3 million tons” of 
 contaminated water that the government and TEPCO now want to dispose of by 
 dumping into the Pacific Ocean. The company claims that the water is safe 
 and has been treated by an “advanced treating system” (ALPS) to prepare 
 it for release. But according to a report in the Global Times published on 
 March 27, the treated water “…still contains radionuclides that are not 
 able to be removed…including ruthenium, strontium-90 and iodine-129, in 
 addition to tritium.” Greenpeace also begs to differ from the TEPCO 
 appraisal of the water by stating that “the water contains materials 
 (carbon-14) that could potentially damage human DNA.”\n\nThe plan 
 approved by Japan’s nuclear regulators calls for the construction of an 
 undersea tunnel to run from the plant less than a mile out into the ocean 
 where it would enter the water at a depth of 40 feet. The release has been 
 scheduled to begin this spring even as scientists have warned of disastrous 
 effects on the marine environment from the discharge that would see the 
 water travel with currents across the Pacific Ocean. Along with the 
 Japanese people, China, Micronesia, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan and the 
 U.S. governments have all expressed strong opposition to the planned 
 release. The Japanese government along with TEPCO have decided that it is 
 cheaper to release the water into the ocean by applying the old “out of 
 sight, out of mind” principal that has historically failed to ever remedy 
 anything. Once it is released, there is no going back.\n\nThe radioactive 
 waters’ release is the stuff of so many Japanese science fiction movies 
 from the 1950s based on nuclear scenarios of giant monsters attacking Tokyo 
 like the movie “Godzilla” that promoted the oversize T-Rex-like monster 
 as “Surging up from the depths of the sea on a tidal wave of terror” 
 along with the movie “The H-Man” that warned of the dangers of nuclear 
 testing.\n\nIn his review of Godzilla, Brian Merchant in a Vice Magazine 
 article dated August 23, 2013, referred to the film as “a bleak, powerful 
 metaphor for nuclear power that still endures today… [a] deceptively 
 powerful film about coping with and taking responsibility for 
 incomprehensible, manmade tragedy,specifically, nuclear 
 tragedies.”\n\nBut this is no movie and the waters’ release if it 
 proceeds is yet another chapter of our blatant disregard for the long-term 
 health of our planet and that of future generations. And who knows what 
 form of a Godzillaesque creation will emerge in turn to come back and haunt 
 us.\n\nReport and photos by Phil Pasquini\n\n© 2023 nuzeink all rights 
 reserved worldwide‘\n\n‘\n\nWest LA Passes  Resolution Opposing Japan 
 Dumping of Radioactive Water From Fukushima into Pacific Ocean\n\nCITY 
 COUNCIL MARCH 6, 2023 CONSENT CALENDAR\n\nSUBJECT:\n\nINITIATED BY: 
 PREPARED BY:\n\nRESOLUTION OPPOSING TEPCO AND THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN’S 
 PLANNED DISCHARGE OF WASTEWATER INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN\n\nCOUNCILMEMBER 
 CHELSEA BYERS\n\nCOMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT\n\n(Yvonne Quarker, 
 Community Services Director)\n(Andi Lovano, Community & Legislative Affairs 
 Manager) (Jennifer Del Toro, Community & Legislative Affairs 
 Supervisor)\n\n______________________________________________________________________\nSTATEMENT 
 ON THE SUBJECT:\n\nThe City Council will consider adopting a resolution 
 opposing Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and the government of 
 Japan’s planned discharge of wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi 
 Nuclear Plant into the Pacific Ocean.\n\nRECOMMENDATIONS:\n\n1)  Adopt 
 Resolution No. 23-_______ “A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY 
 OF WEST HOLLYWOOD OPPOSING TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY (TEPCO) AND THE 
 GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN’S PLANNED DISCHARGE OF WASTEWATER FROM THE FUKUSHIMA 
 DAIICHI NUCLEAR POWER PLANT INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.”\n\n2)  Direct staff 
 to send copies of the resolution to President Joseph Biden, Senator Dianne 
 Feinstein, Senator Alex Padilla, Congressman Adam Schiff, Secretary of 
 State Anthony Blinken, and other partners as appropriate.\n\nBACKGROUND / 
 ANALYSIS:\n\nOn April 13, 2021, the government of Japan announced its plan 
 to release more than 1.28 million metric tons of wastewater from the 
 damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean. The 
 government of Japan noted the release of the wastewater as a necessary step 
 for the ongoing plant cleanup and decommission, with\n\npage1image3788368 
 page1image3788576 page1image5772992\nPage 1 of 5\n\nAGENDA ITEM 
 2.W.\n\ncleanup expected to begin as early as spring 2023 and continue for 
 the next 30 years. The plant was severely damaged in a 2011 magnitude 9.0 
 quake and tsunami that left about 20,000 people in northeast Japan dead or 
 missing.\n\nAs a result of the quake and tsunami damage, the plant’s 
 cooling systems were destroyed causing a meltdown of three reactors and the 
 release of large amounts of radiation. Water that has been used to cool the 
 three damaged reactor cores, which remain highly radioactive, has since 
 leaked but was collected and stored in tanks. The plant's operator, Tokyo 
 Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), has claimed that it has run out of space to 
 build new tanks to hold the accumulated wastewater.\n\nThe plant site 
 utilizes the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS). This filtration 
 system cannot remove all radioactive materials, leaving 72 percent of the 
 water exceeding the regulatory standards and containing radioactive 
 substances such as tritium (H-3), carbon-14, strontium-90, cesium-137, and 
 plutonium. The processing of wastewater through ALPS will not change the 
 quantity of radioactivity in the water, and such radioactivity could 
 accumulate in parts of the marine environment and living organisms through 
 bioaccumulation. Fukushima radiation has been detected on West Coast shores 
 of the United States and Canada since 2015, and whatever is released in the 
 planned discharge will eventually reach the shores of the United States and 
 Canada and other nations in the Pacific, affecting their marine and coastal 
 environment.\n\nIn April 2021, three independent human rights experts 
 appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council expressed their 
 concerns that the dumping of wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi could 
 impact millions of lives and livelihoods in the Pacific region, and such 
 dumping imposes considerable risks to the full enjoyment of human rights of 
 concerned populations in and beyond the borders of Japan. Experts have also 
 expressed concern that the radioactive substances contained in the 
 wastewater such as tritium and strontium, when consumed, may have negative 
 long-term health effects on humans.\n\nTEPCO’s plan has faced strong 
 opposition from Fukushima agricultural, forestry, fisheries, and consumer 
 cooperatives. In Japan, civil society groups, elected officials, and 
 scholars have expressed concerns, along with the United States, and other 
 nations in the Pacific region, who have petitioned the Japanese government 
 to reconsider its plan.\n\nPage 2 of 5\n\nScientists have pointed out 
 multiple deficiencies in TEPCO’s plan, including inadequacies in 
 sampling, inadequacies in assessing the effectiveness of ALPS, and 
 inadequacies in ecosystem assessment. Several Japanese groups are calling 
 for safer, more environmentally sound alternative solutions, which does not 
 cause unnecessary harm to the marine and human life in the Pacific 
 Region.\n\nThis resolution calls on the City of West Hollywood to oppose 
 TEPCO and the government of Japan’s planned discharge of wastewater from 
 the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant into the Pacific Ocean. This resolution 
 is consistent with the City’s core values, which aim to protect the 
 environment and the health and safety of the community. The City of West 
 Hollywood and its visitors value our state’s ocean and coastal waters, 
 which provide habitat to a vast array of wildlife, including fish, whales, 
 sea turtles, and birds that depend on a healthy and clean environment. 
 Discharge of wastewater, which may be hazardous, into the Pacific coast 
 would put these coastal resources, and the communities and industries that 
 depend on them, at risk of damages.\n\nIn 1994, the California Legislature 
 enacted the California Coastal Sanctuary Act (Statutes of 1994, Chapter 
 970), a bipartisan statute aimed at protecting the California coast. Now 
 more than ever, the California coast needs to be protected from decisions 
 that advance the interests of the oil and gas industry at the expense of 
 natural resources and the environment. Our natural resources belong to each 
 and every American, are irreplaceable, and must be protected.\n\nThe City 
 of West Hollywood has been at the forefront of pushing for reforms to 
 improve environmental protections. In 2015, the City passed a resolution 
 urging California to place a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, commonly 
 known as “fracking”, due to a number of environmental concerns. In 
 2018, the City passed a resolution in support of a ban on new offshore oil 
 and gas drilling, fracking, and other well stimulation. And more recently 
 in 2021, the City passed a resolution supporting any legislation 
 permanently barring all new or existing exploration, development, or 
 production of oil or natural gas off the coast of the United 
 States.\n\nPage 3 of 5\n\nSTAFF ANALYSIS:\n\nThis section of the report is 
 provided by City staff to offer additional administrative and programming 
 impacts for this item.\n\nThis item has a low impact on staff time and 
 current departmental workplans. If this item is approved, it would require 
 staff time to prepare and send correspondence to accompany the adopted 
 resolution to the relevant elected officials as referenced in the 
 report.\n\nCONFORMANCE WITH VISION 2020 AND THE GOALS OF THE WEST HOLLYWOOD 
 GENERAL PLAN:\n\nThis item is consistent with the Primary Strategic Goal(s) 
 (PSG) and/or Ongoing Strategic Program(s) (OSP) of:\n\n  OSP-11: 
 Community Education.\n\n  OSP-12: Actively Participate in Regional 
 Issues.\n\nIn addition, this item is compliant with the following goal(s) 
 of the West Hollywood General Plan: General Plan:\n\n SN-2: Minimize 
 exposure to hazardous materials.\n\nEVALUATION 
 PROCESSES:\n\nN/A\n\nENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND 
 HEALTH:\n\nN/A\n\nCOMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:\n\nN/A\n\nOFFICE OF PRIMARY 
 RESPONSIBILITY:\n\nCOMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT / COMMUNITY & LEGISLATIVE 
 AFFAIRS DIVISION\n\npage4image5775488 page4image5775280 page4image5776112 
 page4image5776736page4image5776944 page4image5777152 
 page4image5777360\nPage 4 of 5\n\nFISCAL 
 IMPACT:\n\nNone.\n\nATTACHMENT:\n\nAttachment A - Resolution No. 23-_______ 
 “A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST HOLLYWOOD OPPOSING 
 TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY (TEPCO) AND THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN’S 
 PLANNED DISCHARGE OF WASTEWATER FROM THE FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR POWER 
 PLANT INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN”\n\npage5image3673968 
 page5image1691632\nPage 5 of 5\n\nRESOLUTION NO. 23-____\n\nA RESOLUTION OF 
 THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST HOLLYWOOD OPPOSING TOKYO ELECTRIC 
 POWER COMPANY (TEPCO) AND THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN’S PLANNED DISCHARGE OF 
 WASTEWATER FROM THE FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR POWER PLANT INTO THE PACIFIC 
 OCEAN\n\nWHEREAS, on April 13, 2021, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) 
 and the government of Japan announced its plan to release more than 1.28 
 million metric tons of wastewater from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi 
 Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean, starting as early as spring 
 2023 and continuing for the next 30 years;\n\nWHEREAS, the Advanced Liquid 
 Processing System (ALPS), the filtration system used at the site cannot 
 remove all radioactive materials before the release, leaving 72 percent of 
 the water exceeding the regulatory standards and containing radioactive 
 substances such as tritium (H-3), carbon-14, strontium-90, cesium-137, and 
 plutonium;\n\nWHEREAS, the wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear 
 Power Plant is highly radioactive and is fundamentally different from the 
 water from a nuclear power plant during a regular operation;\n\nWHEREAS, 
 Fukushima radiation has been detected on West Coast shores of the United 
 States and Canada since 2015, and whatever is released in the planned 
 discharge will eventually reach the shores of the United States and Canada 
 and other nations in the Pacific, affecting their marine and coastal 
 environment;\n\nWHEREAS, in April 2021, three independent human rights 
 experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council expressed 
 their concerns that the dumping of wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi 
 could impact millions of lives and livelihoods in the Pacific region, and 
 such dumping imposes considerable risks to the full enjoyment of human 
 rights of concerned populations in and beyond the borders of 
 Japan;\n\nWHEREAS, the processing of wastewater through ALPS will not 
 change the quantity of radioactivity in the water, and such radioactivity 
 could accumulate in parts of the marine environment and living organisms 
 through bioaccumulation;\n\nWHEREAS, radioactive substances contained in 
 the wastewater such as tritium and strontium, when consumed, may have 
 negative long-term health effects on a body;\n\nWHEREAS, Dr. Arjun 
 Makhijani, along with four other scientists, has pointed out multiple 
 deficiencies in TEPCO’s plan, including inadequacies in sampling, 
 inadequacies in assessing the effectiveness of ALPS, and inadequacies in 
 ecosystem assessment;\n\nATTACHMENT A\n\nWHEREAS, Fukushima agricultural, 
 forestry, fisheries, and consumer cooperatives strongly oppose the TEPCO 
 plan of disposing the wastewater into the Pacific Ocean;\n\nWHEREAS, civil 
 society groups, elected officials, and scholars in Japan, the United 
 States, and other nations in the Pacific region have expressed concerns 
 with TEPCO’s plan and petitioned the Japanese government to reconsider 
 its plan;\n\nWHEREAS, safer, more environmentally sound alternative 
 solutions have been proposed by Japanese civil society groups, engineers, 
 and researchers;\n\nWHEREAS, Dr. Tim Deere-Jones, independent marine 
 pollution researcher, has warned that populations who live or work within 
 10 miles from the Pacific coastline may be adversely affected by the 
 release, because the radioactive particles can travel inland due to the 
 evaporation of the ocean water;\n\nWHEREAS, the City of West Hollywood is 
 situated within 10 miles of the coastline; and, therefore, its residents 
 and businesses are at risk of being adversely affected by the planned 
 release; and\n\nWHEREAS, the City of West Hollywood demands TEPCO and the 
 government of Japan reconsider the plan and adopt a more environmentally 
 sound alternative solution which does not cause unnecessary harm to the 
 marine and human life in the Pacific Region.\n\nNOW, THEREFORE BE IT 
 RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of West Hollywood hereby adopts 
 a resolution opposing the plan of TEPCO and the government of Japan to 
 discharge wastewater from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant 
 into the Pacific Ocean.\n\nPASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED THIS 6th day of 
 March, 2023.\n\npage7image3678752\nATTEST:\n\nMelissa Crowder, City Clerk 
 \n https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2023/06/18/18856912.php
SUMMARY:No Radioactive Water Dumping in Pacific Ocean at Fukushima
LOCATION:Berkeley Main Public Library Community Room 3rd Floor\n2090 Kittredge St. 
 Berkeley
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2023/06/18/18856912.php
DTSTART:20230624T173000Z
DTEND:20230624T193000Z
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