On 11 October 2017, a US Marine Corps CH-53E helicopter made an emergency landing and caught fire at a farm in Higashi Village, Okinawa Prefecture. Three days later, the US military announced “radioactive material was present” in parts of the aircraft and it removed soil without the landowner’s permission – but provided no further explanation. Only now has the extent of the environmental impact become clearer and questions remain about the ultimate fate of the contaminated material.
According to an article on the US Army homepage dated 29 July 2025, the burning helicopter left “behind contaminated soil. The affected area was excavated, and lab testing revealed hazardous chemicals and radioactive strontium-90 from the aircraft’s inspection system.” The same article explains that the soil was stored at Camp Kinser, Urasoe City. However, not until autumn 2023 – six years after the crash – was a military radioactive waste specialist dispatched to oversee work to prepare the soil for disposal.
The article states that the material was contracted to be disposed in the United States without mentioning when such removal would occur. In response to an enquiry from this newspaper about the current whereabouts of the soil, on 6 October, a United States Forces Japan spokesperson replied, “Due to the lapse in appropriations, we are unable to respond at this time.”
Strontium-90 is a component of the CH-53E’s in-flight safety systems. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, because the radioactive isotope acts like calcium, it can be absorbed by humans’ bones and teeth, causing cancers.
Another US Army article – this one dated 23 January 2024 – quotes Cyrus “Cy” Turner, the member of the Joint Munitions Command’s Low-Level Radioactive Waste Program involved in the packing procedure at Camp Kinser. He said it was “the most challenging project I’ve worked… because the material was unwanted, has hazardous characteristics, and is radiologically impacted as well.” The article includes photographs of the contaminated soil which appears to contain chunks of melted metal; a nearby sign warns about radioactivity. The contaminated soil filled thirteen 55-gallon (210-litre) barrels.
Nishime Akira, the owner of the farm where the helicopter crashed, told this newspaper that he has not been notified of the military’s analyses. “I believe I have the right to know the contamination status of my own land. The US military took away the soil, but they did not provide any further information,” he said.
Previously, this newspaper reported, based on FOIA-released documents, that the helicopter crash had caused contamination from strontium-90 and PFAS from the firefighting foam used by the US Marine Corps to extinguish the blaze.
Additional reporting by Abe Takashi.