Alaska News

Japan offers financial aid for US, Canadian cleanup of tsunami debris

In the face of an onslaught of debris from the magnitude 9.0 Japanese earthquake and resulting tsunami in March 2011, Japan is pledging funds to help U.S. Pacific coastal states clean up the mess.

The tsunami washed 5 million tons of debris into the Pacific Ocean, with an estimated 1.5 million tons staying afloat on its journey across the sea. While the bulk of the trash has yet to arrive, beaches in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska have already begun to see detritus washing ashore.

Funding in the face of the potentially massive cleanup has been limited, with $50,000 going to each of the five affected U.S. states from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grants. Alaska Sen. Mark Begich has suggested much more be put toward trash removal.

Now Japan has stepped in with some additional help, in the form of $6 million to the U.S. and about another $1 million for Canada. The Japan Daily Press reports that the pledge of funds came from Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda after discussions with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who has also taken an active interest in the tsunami debris and cleanup, praised the donation as a good step forward in the region.

"On behalf of the Alaskans who will benefit from this gesture, I say 'Domo Arigato,'" Murkowski said in a press release.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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