The Atsugi Lawsuit Article

[Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@igc.org>]

San Jose Mercury News
 Posted at 12:30 a.m. PST Monday, December 8, 1997

 Residents near U.S. air base in Japan sue over noise

 TOKYO (Reuters) -- Nearly 3,000 Japanese angry at noise from a U.S.
air base near their homes have launched a lawsuit demanding more than
2.25 billion yen ($17.4 million) in compensation, Kyodo news agency said
today.

 The lawsuit by 2,823 residents of Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo,
called for compensation from the Japanese government, which hosts U.S.
forces, for noise near a naval air base in the city of Atsugi.

 The suit, filed at a Yokohama court, was the third and largest of its
kind lodged by residents near the base, Kyodo said.

 The first such lawsuit had 71 plaintiffs and the second 156, it said.

 While earlier suits included only one representative from each
household, the latest takes in all residents believed to have suffered
from noise at the air base -- from infants to students to old people.

 In addition to the 2.25 billion yen ($17.4 million) compensation for
past suffering from the noise, the residents also demanded a monthly fee
of 23,000 yen ($178) each to be paid until noise levels near the base
fall to a level considered acceptable.

 Unlike the first two suits, Monday's action did not call for the
Japanese government to ban flights near the base at night and in the
early morning, Kyodo said.

 It quoted the lawyer for the residents as saying he hoped this would
help ensure an early conclusion of the suit.

 The first lawsuit over noise near the Atsugi base was concluded in
January 1996 with the state being ordered to pay 69 of the 71 plaintiffs
a total of 106 million yen ($821,000) in compensation, although the call
for a flight ban was rejected.

 The second suit is currently being heard at the Tokyo High Court.