No lasting damage from Japanese oil spill

Abstract

The first environmental impact report on last December's oil spill into Japan's Inland Sea, released by a government-appointed panel that is evaluating the data, indicates no lasting damage to the sea. Water quality generally returned to acceptable levels within three months, and no continuing adverse effects on marine life have yet been found. Noting that data have been taken for only a few months, however, the panel emphasizes the need for continued monitoring over a considerable number of marine life cycles. The spill, the first major one into Japanese coastal waters, amounted to some 54,000 bbl of fuel oil. Compensation for immediate damage to fisheries and edible seaweed cultivation cost Mitsubishi Oil Co., at whose Mizushima refinery the spill occurred, more than $65 million during first-quarter 1975 (C&EN, June 2, page 13). Concerned over possible long-term damage to the region's marine life, Japan's Environment Agency and other government bodies set up programs to monitor ...