Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun reported on the same day that the sea and rivers around Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, turned red on the 27th.The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that at 6:30 a.m. that day, police and others launched an investigation after receiving a report from a resident that “a red liquid was flowing from the river toward the sea.”
On the 27th, cooling water leaked from a beer factory in Okinawa, Japan, and the nearby river is turning red. According to the investigation, cooling water leaked from the nearby Orion Beer Factory. An official from the factory said that “propylene glycol” is included in the cooling water that cools beer tanks.
Propylene glycol is a food additive used for wetting (prevention of food drying) and is also used in cooling water as an antifreeze. The factory explains that it looks red because it is colored with food coloring so that it can be identified when cooling water leaks. In addition, the factory said that the leaked ingredients are harmless to the human body and do not affect the marine environment. But residents are concerned. In an interview with , a man said, “I was surprised (when I saw the sea) in the morning. “I’m most worried about fish because I run a sushi restaurant,” he said.Orion Beer said, “We will push for strengthening the management of factory facilities to prevent this from happening again.” “I apologize for causing so much inconvenience and concern,” he said.The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the outflow of cooling water stopped at 9:30 a.m. on the 27th, but the river and sea were red until the evening of the day.
TED PARK
US ASIA JOURNAL
