The tap water in Kibichuo Town was contaminated by PFOA containing activated carbon that Man-ei Industry had left near the water source for many years.

However, Man-ei Industry has yet to apologize to the residents, nor has it even made public that it is responsible for the contamination.

Man-ei Industry is a local company that received the PFOA containing activated carbon from a company outside the town. While Man-ei Industry has not come out into the open, that company has also been hiding.

We learned through investigation that Kuraray had transactions of activated carbon with Man-ei Industry. Nonetheless, in response to Tansa’s questionnaire, Kuraray said that it was very unlikely that the company had given the activated carbon that caused the contamination.

In order to hold them accountable, it is necessary to clarify which company handed over the activated carbon to Man-ei Industry and to verify whether Man-ei Industry and those companies took measures to prevent contamination at that time.

I decided to ask the president of Man-ei Industry directly.

Man-ei Industry Co., Ltd. in Kibichuo Town, Okayama Prefecture (Photo by Nanami Nakagawa on June 24, 2024)

No announcement for months

Man-ei Industry was founded in 1921 and has annual sales of approximately 3.5 billion yen and approximately 50 employees.

It has been family-run for generations as follows. (Omitted before May 1996)

 

June 1996 – President Norihiro Maeda

 

December 2005 – President Shigenobu Maeda (Norihiro’s younger brother)

 

August 2010 – President Norihiro Maeda

 

November 2010 – President Shigenobu Maeda (Norihiro’s younger brother)

 

August 2011 – President Takahiro Maeda (Norihiro’s eldest son)

In February 2024, I sent an email to the personal address of the current president, Takahiro Maeda. Just to be sure, I sent it using the company’s inquiry form and by mail.

I asked five questions, including about the business partner that had been supplying the PFOA containing activated carbon and why Man-ei Industry has not publicly announced or apologized for causing the contamination.

On February 29, I received a reply from Maeda Takahiro himself.

Our company is currently receiving requests from various government agencies to take action regarding the used activated carbon you mentioned, and we are currently in the process of discussing the matter and taking action.

 

Therefore, as we are currently not in a position to clearly answer questions 1 to 5, we would like to refrain from replying.

 

Thank you very much.

 

Man-ei Industry Co., Ltd.

Representative Director

Takahiro Maeda

Takahiro Maeda avoided answering the questions, saying, “we are currently not in a position to clearly answer questions.”

But even since then, Takahiro Maeda hasn’t appeared in public. He has not even revealed the details of the contamination on his company’s website, and he is still in business without even informing or apologizing to the locals. He appears to be exploiting the fact that the government and media are not revealing Man-ei Industry’s identity.

So I decided to visit Takahiro Maeda in person.

On June 23, I headed to Takahiro Maeda’s home in Okayama Prefecture together with editor-in-chief Makoto Watanabe and intern Sara Sugita.

We arrived in the afternoon, but he was not there, so we staked out his house. In the evening, he returned home by car. He was with his family, so I rang the intercom a little after everyone had entered the house.

Takahiro Maeda answered over the intercom. I said, “I’d like to talk to you about the activated carbon,” to which he replied, “Please don’t do this at my home.”

If that was the case, I asked if we could talk in another location, but he replied, “Could you please make an inquiry at my company?”

But what I wanted to hear was his opinion as the president, a person in a position of responsibility.

I repeatedly pressed him, saying, “I would like to confirm this with you, President Maeda.”

The negotiations continued for about two minutes, and finally Takahiro Maeda said, “If you contact the company, we will respond.” We decided to communicate again by email.

“We have gained a better understanding of the situation”

The following day, I emailed Takahiro Maeda at his personal address, demanding an interview with him as the president of the company and outlining the reason for my interview as well as Kuraray’s denial of any responsibility.

However, Takahiro Maeda did not respond himself.

The email reply came from Kengo Maeda, Takahiro Maeda’s younger brother and the company’s director.

Nice to meet you, my name is Kengo Maeda from Man-ei Industry.

 

As a director, I am responding to the current PFAS issue.

 

I would like to be in charge of handling your interview at this time.

It stated the reason why they had not responded to the questionnaire sent in February.

We received a questionnaire from you in February of this year, but we regret that we were unable to give a clear reply at the time.

 

Our priority at the time was to react swiftly to administrative guidance because there were still a lot of things we did not fully grasp, even within the company.

 

We have continued to respond in accordance with administrative advice, but we have also gained a better understanding of the situation within the company.

The email continues:

Therefore, I would like to accept your interview if you are comfortable with the following conditions.

 

1) Could you please keep our company’s name out of the reportings?

 

2) Regarding the interview, would it be possible to have the questions and answers in writing rather than in a face-to-face interview?

 

3) Due to our position, we may not be able to answer all of your questions in detail. I hope you understand.

“Strong resistance” to company name being publicly reported

I was puzzled. How come Man-ei Industry lacks urgency?

Man-ei Industry’s irresponsible treatment of PFOA containing activated carbon has resulted in an irreversible situation. The town’s tap water is not usable, and the town has completed large-scale water pipe replacement work. The dam, which served as the town’s water source, is no longer operational, and the municipality must now purchase water. Residents’ blood has been found to contain high levels of PFOA, and children as young as two years old are affected.

Even though they should apologize as soon as possible, they still refuse to let their company name be reported. This will only make their credibility worse.

In my reply, I wrote:

In terms of reporting without disclosing the company name, Tansa reports all public authorities and companies with social responsibility under their real names in order to clarify accountability and ensure that necessary action is taken.

 

In this situation, the mayor’s and town officials’ incompetence exacerbated the problem. However, the town has been unable to properly examine the cause or hold anyone accountable, and the names of the authorities involved in this case are being kept confidential while the investigation against your company proceeds. Tansa feels that politicians and government officials, as public figures, should accept accountability, hence we report on all of them using their real names.

 

Your company’s name has already gone public. Your corporation has been named and is being debated in the Diet (House of Representatives Budget Committee). Furthermore, it is expected that lawsuits and other public debates will take place in the future. Currently, your company’s name has only appeared in some reports, but I think it is only a matter of time before it is widely reported.

 

It is only a matter of time before the identity of the company that supplied your company with the activated carbon that caused the contamination is revealed. Furthermore, if you do not reveal the identity and hold them accountable, there is a possibility that your company will bear more responsibility than necessary for this contamination.

I couldn’t compromise on the reporting of its real name. I wrote back asking him to reconsider the interview, and received a reply from Kengo Maeda.

Regarding disclosing real names, I understand that your company’s reporting policy is based on the idea of clearly defining responsibility, and that you always report real names.

 

We are aware that our company’s name has already appeared in the Diet and in some media reports.

 

We understand that our name may become public if any lawsuits or other proceedings arise in the future.

 

However, given how deeply rooted the PFAS issue is and how large an area remains unseen, we feel strong resistance to our company name being reported publicly at this time, and we ask that media interviews refrain from using our real name at this time.

 

We would appreciate your understanding.

Whether Man-ei Industry has “resistance” or not is not the issue. They need to fully explain to the residents that they have harmed and to society.

It would be a true approach for a corporation to explain that what is currently unknown is unknown, and to disclose what is known when the facts emerge. Many corporations have lost trust by failing to explain things and instead having the media and government investigations to reveal the truth.

I explained that I would report using real names based on facts I had obtained through other investigations, but that I would decline the interview because I could not agree to the condition of anonymity.

President Takahiro Maeda would not answer the interview himself and even refused to disclose the company’s name.

However, I found an executive from Man-ei Industry who agreed to be interviewed. I will report on this in the next issue.

To be continued.

(Originally published in Japanese on September 3, 2024. Translation by Mana Shibata.)

Polluted with PFOA: All articles