Abstract
Current environmental literature provides insufficient information and analysis on how today’s environmental state was shaped by countermeasures to pollution taken in the last century, which could be characterized as a century of environmental degradation. Such a look back is crucial to better understand and predict how policy and countermeasure choices today may shape the world in the future. Following this line of reasoning, the present work conducted a post audit on the long-term consequence of a countermeasure against a major heavy metal pollution case caused by the operation of the Ashio Copper Mine in Japan. It examined this issue from both environmental and societal perspectives by document analysis, field investigation on the heavy metal concentration in the soils of a heavy mental catchment area and questionnaire survey on the public knowledge with regard to the copper mining contamination case as well. It shed new light on how environment may evolve via the interaction with human activities by identifying drivers behind major changes. It also revealed a gap between the reality and the public perception towards the consequence of the copper contamination. Such insights will deepen the discussion on what is sustainability and motivate further study to pursue sustainable development.
Highlights
The industrial revolution of 19th century is the starting point for both rich material life and environmental changes
The history of the Watarase Retarding Basin (WRB) is a direct result of the operations of the Ashio Copper Mine more than 100 years ago
Wastewater from the mine containing both heavy metals and high levels of sulfides was dumped into the Watarase River, along with the residual waste material from the ore extraction process
Summary
The industrial revolution of 19th century is the starting point for both rich material life and environmental changes. As the contamination became a serious societal problem, the government of the time took the measure of demolishing the village of Yanaka to enable the construction of a retarding basin to control the flooding and contain the heavy metals within the contaminated flood water. The present study targeted the Watarase Retarding Basin (WRB), which is located in the lower course of the Watarase River (Figure 1) It was the focal point in the copper contamination case since it functioned as a heavy metal catchment area. A recent study conducted around the Ashio Copper Mine, which is located approximately 80 km upstream of the WRB, showed that heavy metal levels in both rivers and soils around the mine were significantly lower than the environmental standards of Japan [8]. Considering the uncertainty of long-term consequences of human activity-induced environmental changes, a case study of long-term environmental impact such as this will contribute to widening perspectives on various drivers of change and to deepening the understanding of the significance and magnitude of change
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