A provincial government in Japan is refuting local media reports that an incinerator run by one of the country's largest engineering giants, Ebara Corporation, was shut down due to negligence.

A plant operated by Ebara was reportedly shut down after it was discovered that raw effluents were flushed directly into a stream flowing into the Hikichi River since the early 1990s, leading to record-levels of dioxin.

A senior officer in the Kanagawa Prefectural Government said the company had voluntarily stopped operations when the problem was discovered, followed by a "written advice" from the provincial governor on improving the treatment methods.

"The shutdown order was not issued by an administrative organ.

"Immediately after the problem had been revealed, the company voluntarily stopped the operation of the incinerator," said Shigeharu Take, the Environment and Agriculture Department director of air and water quality division.

Responding to a set of questions e-mailed by malaysiakini earlier this month, he said the plant's operation has been suspended ever since.

Complete separation

Presently, said Shigeharu, there were "no issues pending" because the improvement measures had been completed by Ebara. However, it is unclear if the plant has resumed operations.

He said the advice was for Ebara to "promptly improve the waste water treatment facility to completely comply with the effluent standards based on the Law Concerning Special Measures against Dioxins".

The company was asked to "completely separate" the rainwater system from the waste water system in the facility and buildings, and to collect waste water for "secure processing" to prevent a similar mishap.

It was also required to monitor density levels of dioxins in all effluents discharged into public waterways and to "drastically review, improve and strengthen" the effluent management system.

Shigeharu said Ebara has been complying with all the requirements, which is further verified by the provincial government's spot-checks.

Apart from the governor's written advice, he said the Environment and Agriculture Department has also been guiding Ebara in implementing the preventive measures.

Severely criticised

The company has come under severe criticism in Malaysia after it was awarded the multi-billion ringgit contract to design and build a 1,500-tonne proposed plant in Broga, near Semenyih.

Local and international anti-incinerator campaigners are lobbying against the project on grounds, among others, that it uses unproven technology which is touted as Japan's latest zero emission gasification wonder.

Shigeharu said Ebara has not been involved in any other incidents since the contamination of the Hihichi River.

"There have not been any incidents involving incinerators as in this (Ebara) case. There is (also) no report of deaths or illnesses (since then)," he said, also listing several laws on dioxins.

On demands by the Japanese for their government to shut down all incinerators in the country, he said: "It is necessary to widely exchange views based on our scientific knowledge for environmental preservation, and to decide future ways based on these opinions exchanged."

The Malaysian government has been asked to scrap the deal with Ebara given its widely-reported bad track record, which includes allegations of corruption, tax evasion and failed or accident-prone incinerators in Japan.