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MONTHLY NEWS March 1997 Children Help Clean Up Spilled Oil |
Hundreds of thousands of volunteers have been flocking to coastal areas along the Sea of Japan to join the effort to clean up the crude oil that has leaked from the 13,157-ton Russian tanker Nakhodka.
The tanker capsized off the coast of Shimane Prefecture on January 2, and oil slicks have been washing up on coastal communities stretching from Shimane to Yamagata Prefectures. Some 36,000 kiloliters of spilled oil have been collected during the first month since the shipwreck. Many of the volunteers have been schoolchildren, many of whom offer their help on weekends. |
 A
fifth-grader living in the city of Fukui
works as a receptionist at a center for volunteer workers. "After I saw images
of oil-soaked birds on TV, I got an urge to do something. So I asked my father
to bring me here," she said. "I wish I could help out on the beach, but I think
my job here is important, too." Fifty middle school students from the city of Kyoto were active scooping up spilled oil around the coastal town of Amino in northern Kyoto Prefecture. They removed 15 bags of crude from the beach as well as 30 bags of litter. The oil spill is one of the worst Japan has experienced and has dealt a serious blow to the natural environment and the economy of the affected areas.
Photos: Schoolkids (top) and other volunteers (above) work to clean up the coastline. (Asahi Shimbun) 
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