Expert Panel Finds Safety in Toyosu Market

July 31, 2018

Tokyo- An expert panel formed by the Tokyo metropolitan government said Monday that the safety of the planned Toyosu wholesale food market has been secured with the implementation of additional soil contamination control work.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is expected to declare the market as safe for use.

The Toyosu market is scheduled to take over the functions of the existing Tsukiji market in the Japanese capital's Chuo Ward in October. The Toyosu market is located in neighboring Koto Ward.

In September 2016, empty spaces were found beneath some key facilities of the Toyosu market, although they should have been filled with pollution control soil. The Toyosu site once hosted a gas plant.

The metropolitan government has since carried out extra construction work, including covering the basement floors of the facilities with concrete and beefing up the capabilities of systems that manage groundwater.

After the additional work was completed, the panel analyzed air and groundwater samples taken from the underground spaces to check for the existence of toxic substances and the effectiveness of the work.

"There is no problem in using the (Toyosu) market," said panel chief Tatemasa Hirata, head of the Open University of Japan's Wakayama Study Center, at a press conference.

It is important for the metropolitan government to monitor the situation constantly and continue to release the results of its findings, he said. Jiji Press