Tsunami and Environmental Pollution Hazards: A Note for the Restoration Process - Post-Tsunami Hazard: Reconstruction and Restoration - page 250

Chapter 17
Tsunami and Environmental Pollution
Hazards: A Note for the Restoration Process
Vicente Santiago-Fandiño and Mi Hyung Kim
Abstract The large destruction of industrial facilities, processing factories and
urban areas by the 2011 tsunami along the northeast coast of Tohoku Region (Japan)
resulted in extensive contamination in most of the fl ooded areas and coastal waters;
an enormous amount of mixed debris and radiation compounded these problems,
creating both potential environmental and human health hazards which should be
assessed throughout the reconstruction and the restoration process.
Open-air temporary debris storage sites lacking suffi cient insulation have likely
contaminated air, soil, marine and freshwater bodies with hazardous chemicals
along certain areas in Tohoku. Moreover, construction wooden debris treated with
biocides, weathering fi xatives and fi re retardants accumulated in the sites along the
region have likely leached a host of toxic compounds including metals, arsenic and
other hazardous substances posing a threat to soil and water sources, including
groundwater.
As part of the region's reconstruction process, the potential short, medium and
long-term environmental toxicity and damage to key ecosystems, fl ora and fauna as
well as the contamination and impact on commercial resources, soil and water
require careful assessment.
This chapter provides a general overview of the potential contamination that may
have occurred as a result of the tsunami of March 2011 along the Tohoku Region
in Japan. Emphasis is made in the Miyagi prefecture looking at the contamination
originated from the storage and management of wooden debris and other sources as
well as some of its related environmental consequences.
Keywords Tsunami ￿ Debris ￿ Treated wood ￿ Radiation ￿ Pollution ￿ Miyagi