EDR: CommonGround | Blog | The View from the East

CommonGround’s first international blog, “The View from the East” will focus on environmental due diligence issues in Asia. From his home base in Tokyo, Kevin Carroll, Executive Director of Earth-Appraisal Co., Ltd. in Japan will coordinate a team of technical contributors from Japan, China, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia who will post on a rotating basis.

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Launching the Asia blog

5/16/2008 | posted by

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kmc-japan

Welcome to the View from the East blog. Some time ago, Rob Barber (EDR's CEO) and I discussed the possibility of having a venue for posting relevant Asia-related topics on the commonground webpage (way back when the community was still in its formative stages). Now that commonground has some traction, it seems that the time is right to introduce an international aspect to the site and its members.

The concept for this blog will be postings of technical, regulatory and business interest on a country-specific basis. I will be joined in my blogging efforts by a team of experts from Japan, China, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia. Other countries may also be added based on feedback from our members.

Conventional wisdom holds that “All work and no play makes for a dull community”. Keeping this concept in mind, it’s not our intent to make this blog an exercise in technical tedium. All feedback and questions are welcome, ranging from business topics to ethnic food to your next vacation trip. Blog or country-related questions can be directed to us by replying to this post. (We will be setting up a specific e-mail address for submitting feedback in the future, and will notify you of the address in a future blog post.) Items of group interest will be addressed in a Mailbag version of the blog. If you prefer a private response, please indicate so when submitting your comment or question and be sure to specify an e-mail response address.

To kick things off, the current name of the blog is decidedly lame, but it’s the best one my non-creative brain could generate. I open the floor to the community for suggestions for renaming this column. Nothing is too far-fetched for consideration and all suggestions will be carefully and scientifically evaluated by the commonground editorial team (the guys who pay the bills). The best submittal will be selected and will officially become the new title. Please bear in mind that the judges’ decision is final and will probably be both arbitrary and capricious.

Welcome to our part of the world! The real blogging will commence shortly.

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boag97 on 5/16/2008
Look forward to your "you can't get that done in these parts" discussion. As for a name "Dateline West" rings in my head, although I think there is some show using the name dateline. When I deal with the places you cover, it is "tomorrow today" there and right out of the box, the games begin on the most simple thing of deadlines and arranging call times. I look forward to your discussions on dealing with the "West" intersecting "East" and all the fun and games it creates-technical and otherwise. This blog will definitely provide the guide book for the best places for Ramen noodles, curries, and many other fine foods. For starters- culturally, how is it looked upon to go to a regulator and inquire about a facility- I know in some places in Europe, you might as well drive the regulator to the site once you ask a question as they think the only reason you ask is because something must be wrong.

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kmc-japan on 5/19/2008
I can answer this question in a post form since we don’t have the e-mail set up yet. It is difficult to obtain information from regulators in Japan for three reasons: First, the Japanese Privacy Act requires the current landowner/tenant to provide written permission for release of any information on each address. Second, Japanese regulators do not have much in the way of information in the first place. There are generally few instances which require submittals to the government (both local and national). As an example, there is no required registration of above or underground storage tanks. Generally speaking, the only incidents which will have records on file will relate to catastrophic discharges, fires or explosions. Lastly, standard practice in all governing bodies requires destruction of records after expiration of a five year retention period. Perhaps more to your point, questions regarding a specific property may or may not trigger regulator interest. It is more likely to generate interest in the major municipalities than in rural areas due to staffing issues. Additionally, the level of staff competency in the non-urban areas is far lower than in the highly developed city muncipalities.

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