Photo/Illutration The site of a massive landslide in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, on July 7 (Wataru Sekita)

SHIZUOKA--Shizuoka Vice Governor Takashi Namba said construction work carried out in depositing a dangerous mass of fill dirt high up an Atami mountain was “illegal” and questioned why authorities failed to enforce the rules.

When heavy rains lashed Shizuoka Prefecture, the landfill collapsed in a deadly landslide in the seaside city on July 3, killing at least nine people with 22 others remaining unaccounted for.

Namba said during a July 7 news conference that the “inappropriate” and “illegal” construction work had violated procedures numerous times and that the fill was built up larger than authorized.

He explained that the prefectural and city governments had called for the work to be suspended, but also admitted that the two levels of government likely acted irresponsibly when it came to ensuring that the rules were being followed.

“Why did (they) not notice when the (operator) built a larger mound than (what was laid out) in its plan?”

He provided a timeline of its construction that officials have pieced together.

A business operator had obtained the land in September 2006 and then filed a report in March 2007 to the city of Atami detailing a plan to fill in the land according to the rules laid out in a prefectural ordinance.

In December 2009, the operator filed a notification of changes to the plan regarding the method of construction.

Under the specifications, the landfill was expected to only be 15 meters in height and span 36,641 cubic meters.

The operator said in the documents it would build an earthen dam to prevent soil loss.

But prefectural officials estimate that the roughly 54,000 cubic-meter mound was added as part of development in the area, based on a review of January 2010 survey data from the land ministry and other records.

Officials estimate the mound was about 50 meters high.

Namba said it is not yet known if an earthen dam was there, but because the mound appears to have been bigger than what the operator promised in the report, it would not have mattered.

“Even if there was an earthen dam, it would not have been able to hold this amount, I think,” he said.

According to the prefectural government, the operator expanded the construction area from its initial plan and mixed industrial and trade waste into the landfill. That prompted the prefectural and city governments to issue corrective instructions to the operator and request it suspend the work.

“Breaches of procedure occurred many times and were inappropriate,” Namba said.

The ownership of the land was transferred from the business operator to an individual in February 2011.

“It is not clear who made a lot of the landfill,” Namba said. “But, based on the amount and the time period, the previous owner is not the only one.”

Namba said the prefectural government has not found any new plans filed subsequently after the land was transferred.

(This article was written by Sokichi Kuroda and Shoko Tamaki.)

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