Japanese Government Allows Marine Dumping of Volcanic Ash in Case of Mt. Fuji Eruption

Mount Fuji, Japan
Photo by Yonhap News

The Japanese government has decided to allow the disposal of volcanic ash into the sea in the event of a large-scale eruption of Mount Fuji that results in a massive accumulation of volcanic ash.

According to local Japanese media on the 30th, the government plans to temporarily store volcanic ash in parks or sports fields if Mount Fuji erupts on the scale of the 1707 "Hoei Eruption." If storage space is insufficient, sea disposal will also be permitted.

Japan's Marine Pollution Prevention Act generally prohibits dumping waste into the sea, but the Minister of the Environment may allow it if deemed urgent. Experts say volcanic ash is a naturally occurring material with minimal environmental impact, but local media report that before any disposal, samples of the volcanic ash will be examined to assess environmental effects, and disposal will proceed only after such evaluation.

The Japanese government plans to discuss the sea disposal of volcanic ash at an expert meeting next month and incorporate the measures into volcanic ash countermeasure guidelines to be prepared around next spring.

If Mount Fuji erupts as it did in 1707, the amount of volcanic ash to be removed is expected to be ten times the disaster waste generated by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The estimated volume of volcanic ash alone is 1.24 million cubic meters, equivalent to 390 times the volume of the Tokyo Dome, which has an area of approximately 47,000 square meters.

Additionally, it is estimated that about 10 cm of volcanic ash will accumulate in central Tokyo during the two weeks following the eruption, with more than 30 cm expected in Kanagawa Prefecture and Yamanashi Prefecture, which are close to Mount Fuji.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.