Military Photographer of the Year Winner 1997 Title: The Atsugi Syndrome Category: Picture Story; Portfolio Place: 2nd Place Portfolio Exact Date Shot Unknown Caption: Since opening in 1983, the Jinkanpo waste incinerator, just outside the Naval Air Facility Atsugi housing area in suburban Tokyo, has been a constant source of complaint for military families who live on the side of the base closest to the incinerator. During the summer, coastal winds blow smoke from Jinkanpo's stacks directly into the housing area, which according to Navy engineers who studied the smoke, contains a "witches brew" of such toxins as lead, dioxin, and benzene. 1. A warning sign for joggers and others walking ...

The original finding aid described this photograph as:

[Complete] Scene Caption: Military Photographer of the Year Winner 1997 Title: The Atsugi Syndrome Category: Picture Story; Portfolio Place: 2nd Place Portfolio Exact Date Shot Unknown Caption: Since opening in 1983, the Jinkanpo waste incinerator, just outside the Naval Air Facility Atsugi housing area in suburban Tokyo, has been a constant source of complaint for military families who live on the side of the base closest to the incinerator. During the summer, coastal winds blow smoke from Jinkanpo`s stacks directly into the housing area, which according to Navy engineers who studied the smoke, contains a "witches brew" of such toxins as lead, dioxin, and benzene. 1. A warning sign for joggers and others walking outdoors stands under Atsugi`s newest military housing unit, opened in May 1997. 2. Inside the newest tower on moving-in day, Christina Ripperger watches her new neighbor, the incinerator, 700 feet away. 3. Although Navy authorities have pressed the local government for several years to close or relocate Jinkanpo, which is privately owned, the government has only expanded the hours during the day that the incinerator can operate and broadened the list of toxins that can be disposed of there. 4. The family of Petty Officer 1st Class Donald Phillips, who has lived 1000 feet from Jinkanpo for the last year, must take medicines almost every day that mitigate allergic symptoms the Phillips family says are caused by the incinerator. 5. Kristen Phillips uses her antihistamine and steroid sprayer that she needs to keep breathing normally. 6. A child`s drawing of Jinkanpo decorates a military community briefing display on the status of negotiations between the U.S. and Japanese governments on Jinkanpo.

Base: Tokyo

Country: Japan (JPN)

Scene Camera Operator: PH1(Aw) M. Clayton Farrington

Release Status: Released to Public
Combined Military Service Digital Photographic Files