Mercury - Time to Act

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11 MERCURY – TIME TO ACT
Minamata mercury events timeline
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
A young girl at Minamata is hospitalised with
syndrome of severe numbness of the limbs,
inability to speak and inability to eat.
Minamata Disease o cially acknowledged.
Outbreak of the same disease in Niigata Prefecture.
Japan's Environment Agency
established; Certi cation Criteria for
Acquired Minamata Disease published.
Establishment of Minamata Disease
Museums in Minamata and Niigata.
Comprehensive Programme to Address
MinamataDisease introduced.
Acetaldehyde and acetic acid manufacturing
industry takes the rst pollution reduction
measures which later prove ine ective.
The cause of Minamata Disease identi ed.
Compensation issues start to be discussed.
Relief Act to compensate
Minamata disease victims.
Production of acetaldehyde stopped at Minamata. Cost of damage caused by Minamata disease calculated:
- 7,671,000,000 yen/year health damage compensations
- 4,271,000,000 yen/year expenditure for dredging work in Minamata Bay
- 689,000,000 yen/year shery compensations
Minamata city is selected for
eco-model cities programme in Japan
Government decision on revitalisation
and development of local communities
Special Relief Act for Minamata victims.
Installation of dividing nets to contain
polluted sh inside Minamata Bay.
Dredging of 1.5 million cubic metres of
mercury-contaminated bottom sediments.
Establishmentofvarious social-economic
and victims integration programmes.
Source: Adapted from The lessons from Minamata Disease and Mercury Management in Japan, Ministry of Environment Japan, 2011. →
Designed by Zoï Environment Network / GRID-Arendal, December 2012.