ID :
165643
Thu, 03/03/2011 - 14:39
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https://www.oananews.org//node/165643
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Gov't reaches 1st settlement with unrecognized Minamata sufferers
TOKYO, March 3 Kyodo - The government and major chemical maker Showa Denko K.K. on Thursday reached a settlement in a compensation suit filed by unrecognized sufferers of Minamata mercury-poisoning disease at the Niigata District Court, with each plaintiff awarded a lump sum payment of 2.1 million yen.
It is the first time that the state, which admits responsibility for the outbreak of the disease, has reached a settlement in a series of lawsuits filed by a total of 3,000 unrecognized sufferers of the disease.
The government is also expected to reach a settlement later this month in three other similar lawsuits filed with Tokyo, Osaka and Kumamoto district courts.
At the Niigata District Curt, Presiding Judge Masato Kusano read the terms of the settlement, which said the government will conduct research on treatment of the disease and will make efforts to enhance welfare for sufferers.
The suit, originally filed against the state and Showa Denko at the Niigata court in June 2009, was later joined by other unrecognized Minamata disease sufferers, bringing the total number of plaintiffs to 173. The plaintiffs had been seeking compensation of 8.8 million yen per person.
The mercury-poisoning outbreak, similar to Minamata disease in Kumamoto Prefecture, has been attributed to mercury-tainted waste water that flowed into the Agano River from a Showa Denko chemical plant in Niigata Prefecture in the 1960s.
Last October, the Japanese government and Showa Denko agreed to seek a settlement with the plaintiffs.
The settlement terms were in line with the government's redress package adopted last April under a law on special measures for Minamata disease sufferers.
Excluding two plaintiffs who have already been recognized as Minamata sufferers, all the other 171 plaintiffs were approved to receive the lump sum payments.
The suit is the fourth related to the Niigata Minamata disease outbreak. A Niigata district court ruling on the first suit in 1971 traced the disease to waste water from Show Denko. The second suit was settled without a ruling in 1996.
In the third suit pending at the same court, 20 plaintiffs have called for a court ruling instead of a negotiated settlement.
It is the first time that the state, which admits responsibility for the outbreak of the disease, has reached a settlement in a series of lawsuits filed by a total of 3,000 unrecognized sufferers of the disease.
The government is also expected to reach a settlement later this month in three other similar lawsuits filed with Tokyo, Osaka and Kumamoto district courts.
At the Niigata District Curt, Presiding Judge Masato Kusano read the terms of the settlement, which said the government will conduct research on treatment of the disease and will make efforts to enhance welfare for sufferers.
The suit, originally filed against the state and Showa Denko at the Niigata court in June 2009, was later joined by other unrecognized Minamata disease sufferers, bringing the total number of plaintiffs to 173. The plaintiffs had been seeking compensation of 8.8 million yen per person.
The mercury-poisoning outbreak, similar to Minamata disease in Kumamoto Prefecture, has been attributed to mercury-tainted waste water that flowed into the Agano River from a Showa Denko chemical plant in Niigata Prefecture in the 1960s.
Last October, the Japanese government and Showa Denko agreed to seek a settlement with the plaintiffs.
The settlement terms were in line with the government's redress package adopted last April under a law on special measures for Minamata disease sufferers.
Excluding two plaintiffs who have already been recognized as Minamata sufferers, all the other 171 plaintiffs were approved to receive the lump sum payments.
The suit is the fourth related to the Niigata Minamata disease outbreak. A Niigata district court ruling on the first suit in 1971 traced the disease to waste water from Show Denko. The second suit was settled without a ruling in 1996.
In the third suit pending at the same court, 20 plaintiffs have called for a court ruling instead of a negotiated settlement.
