Noisy Guests: Japanese Court Orders to Pay Over $22Mln to Locals Near US Airbase

Japan’s Naha district court in southern Okinawa prefecture ordered the government to pay more than $22 million to people living near a key US airbase Futenma after they had filed a complaint over aircraft noise.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — The Naha district court ruled that the Japanese government will have to pay around 2.46 billion yen ($22.6 million) to some 3,400 plaintiffs living around the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma following their complaints over emotional suffering stemming from worries of a possible aircraft crash, as well as the aircraft noise, according to the Kyodo news agency.

The plaintiffs demanded that the court order the central government to pay around 10 billion yen as well as to make sure that the airbase does not emit noise above 40 decibels at night and early in the morning and over 65 decibels at any other time during the day, the agency said.

The plaintiffs’ demand to halt flights at the base was rejected by the court, according to the agency.

The Futenma airbase houses 25,800 US servicemen along with 19,000 family members and civilians, according to the Okinawa prefecture.