Japan Eyes 2 Runway Options for Futenma Relocation Report

Tokyo, Aug. 1 (Jiji Press)--Japan will propose to the United States
that a joint report this month will include two options for runway
construction in a replacement facility for a key U.S. Marine base in Okinawa
Prefecture, it was learned Sunday.
One of the two options calls for constructing two runways
configured in a V shape in a coastal area in Nago, Okinawa, in line with a
2006 bilateral agreement, while the other envisages building a single runway
at the same location, informed sources said.
The Japanese government judged that if the two nations decide on
one specific construction plan at this stage, resentment over the relocation
of U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station, now in Ginowan, Okinawa, would
intensity further among Okinawa residents, who want the base moved out of
the prefecture, the sources said.
Japan and the United States will put off a final conclusion on the
details of the replacement facility until after the Okinawa gubernatorial
election set for Nov. 28, the sources said.
In a joint statement issued in May, the two countries plan to wrap
up a study by a bilateral experts' panel regarding the details of the
relocation plan, such as the exact location and construction method of the
replacement facility, by the end of August and finalize them at a so-called
two-plus-two meeting of their foreign and defense ministers in autumn.
But the postponement of a final conclusion now makes it very
unlikely that the two-plus-two meeting will be held before U.S. President
Barack Obama visits Japan in November.
At the experts' panel, Japan has been pushing for the single runway
option, as it would require a smaller reclamation area, thereby reducing
adverse effects on the environment, and the construction period would be
shortened.
The Democratic Party of Japan-led government of Prime Minister
Naoto Kan also hopes to differentiate itself from the former government led
by the Liberal Democratic Party, which signed the 2006 agreement on the
V-shaped runways, the sources said.
However, construction of a single runway in the same location as
under the 2006 accord would likely mean that aircraft using the runway will
fly over nearby residential areas. Therefore, Japan will consider solutions
including the possibility of building a runway offshore.
The V-shaped runway plan was worked out so that aircraft will avoid
flying over nearby residential areas by using one runway for takeoffs and
the other for landings.
The United States considers the plan the only viable option. But
even if Japan agrees to the plan, it hopes to construct the V-shaped runways
offshore, instead of in the Henoko coastal area under the 2006 accord, the
sources said.
Before the DPJ took power last year, Okinawa Governor Hirokazu
Nakaima demanded the planned V-shaped runways be constructed offshore as a
condition for accepting the Futenma relocation to Nago's Henoko area, in
order to reduce the effects of noise on nearby residents.
For either option of a single runway or V-shaped runways, any
offshore movement from the currently planned site will be limited to about
50 meters so that a new environment impact assessment is not required,
according to the sources.


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