Via Japan Today: Gov't estimates 3 years for removal of debris from disaster areas. Excerpt:
The Environment Ministry estimates that it will take three years for the three prefectures in northeastern Japan worst hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami to finish removing massive piles of debris left by the disaster, the ministry said Saturday.
Up to around 24.9 million tons of debris mainly from collapsed houses are assumed to be scattered around Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, according to the ministry. The amount is about 1.7 times the debris seen in the 1996 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
The actual amount of debris is expected to be larger as the assumption does not include rubble from wrecked vessels and vehicles.
The removal process is expected to be delayed due to the lack of temporary disposal sites for rubble, according to the ministry.
The Iwate prefectural government said it will need some 3 million square meters of land to temporarily store a total of 6 million tons of debris scattered around the prefecture, but has been able to secure only 40% of the land needed so far. The prefecture has relatively little flat land because of its deeply indented coastline.
The ministry said the prefecture may have to ask neighboring prefectures to lease land for disposal purposes.
