Residents' group sues state over Futemma airbase relocation+

NAHA, Japan, Aug. 19 Kyodo -
A residents' group sued the government Wednesday for breaching the
environmental impact assessment law over the planned relocation of the U.S.
Marines' Futemma Air Station within Okinawa Prefecture.

The suit filed with the Naha District Court is the first legal action in Japan
against the contentious Japan-U.S. plan to relocate the airbase's key functions
from downtown Ginowan to the coast in Nago, both on Okinawa's main island,
according to the group's lawyers.
Conservation groups opposing the plan are worried it would negatively impact
dugong and other rare creatures inhabiting the area, while the Okinawa
prefectural government has demanded that the planned substitute airfield be
located offshore from Nago.
Tokyo began an environmental impact assessment in August 2007 and presented a
preliminary report last April to the Okinawa prefectural government to elicit
local opinion before finalizing its view in accordance with the law.
In the suit, the roughly 340-member group of Okinawa residents and their
supporters is taking issue with a plan to build helicopter landing areas that
was not described when the government began the assessment but was mentioned
additionally in the preliminary report.
Moving ahead with the process would contravene the law, which requires a fresh
assessment if the project concerned is modified, the group argues.
The plaintiffs are also seeking 10,000 yen per person in compensation for the
breach of law that deprived them of the right to express their opinions about
the assessment.
The government is due to commence compiling its final assessment after Okinawa
Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima submits by Oct. 13 his view based on a survey of local
residents and other local opinion.
Under a 2006 bilateral accord, Tokyo and Washington aim to complete the planned
relocation by 2014.
==Kyodo