2000
Jan.20, 2000
Minebea Co., Ltd.
Soil and Groundwater Contamination at Ichinoseki Plant of Minebea Onkyo, a Minebea Subsidiary
The Ichinoseki Plant of Minebea Onkyo Co., Ltd. (located in Ichinoseki City, Iwate Pref. with 111 employees and ¥60 million monthly sales) was built in May 1965 and engaged in the production of speakers until October 1995. Thereafter, the plant suspended its operations and since March 1999 it has been producing transformers.
Until 1986 the plant used trichloroethylene to dilute adhesive material used in speaker production, then replaced trichloroethylene with trichloroethane, and used it until March 1993 when the Minebea Group eliminated the ozone-depleting substance from production processes at all manufacturing facilities of the group. The investigation conducted by Eco-Techno Corporation of Japan at Minebea's request confirmed contamination of the soil and the groundwater. On April 18 and 19 Minebea reported the contamination and cleanup measures to the Ichinoseki City Office and the Iwate Prefectural Government.
On April 19 Minebea worked with the Ichinoseki City Office to investigate the surrounding area of the plant (within a 500-meter radius). The investigation showed no existence of wells and no use of groundwater by the local community.
Minebea has proposed dual vacuum extraction method for remediation of soil and groundwater (or air stripping method) to clean up the site, because this method would make it possible to greatly diminish the contamination of the site in a short time (about one year). The Company plans to carry out the cleanup as soon as feasible under the guidance of the Iwate Prefectural Government. How long it will take to clean up residual contaminant depends on the conditions of the strata, however, it is likely to take another several years.
Cleanup costs are about ¥70 million for equipment and the running cost of water pumps. These costs have been included in the budget.
For further information and inquiries, please contact:
MINEBEA CO., LTD.
Corporate Communications Office, Corporate Planning Department
Ryusuke Mizukami, Managing Director
Yasuaki Miyahara in charge of corporate communications
TEL : 03-5434-8637
FAX : 03-5434-8607
Product information, contact and other context are subject to change without prior notice.
