Management and Emissions Reduction for Chemical Substances (Totals for Japan)

Reducing Environmentally Hazardous Chemical Substances

Ranking by Voluntary Standards for Reduction and Prohibition

In 1997, Murata set up its own standards concerning chemical substances with large environmental impact among those used in production processes at manufacturing plants. These voluntary standards target the reduction or elimination of 157 chemical substance groups by ranking them as Prohibition, Emission Reduction or Preparation for Emission Reduction according to toxicity.

Voluntary Regulation Program for Environmentally Hazardous Substances Used or Emitted in Processes

Soil and Groundwater Contamination Surveys

Murata has been quick to carry out surveys on soil and groundwater contamination caused by past business activities and has actively worked toward early remediation. In 1989, we ceased using trichloroethylene and five other chlorinated organic solvents at 17 of our 22 manufacturing plants upon the prohibition of underground seepage based on the Water Pollution Control Law, and achieved total elimination in 1998.

The Company has conducted more detailed soil and groundwater contamination surveys since 1991 using state-of-the-art technology. These surveys have verified contamination originating from the use of chlorinated organic solvents at 14 of our 36 business sites and subsidiaries. Cleaning work has commenced, and work is in progress at 10 locations.

Progress on Remediation

Since 1997, Murata has cleaned up 14 locations deemed to require remediation. We have also installed wells at the boundaries of business site premises, where we gather data on trichloroethylene and cis-1, 2-dichloroethylene, and constantly monitor the progress of groundwater purification. For business sites and subsidiaries with particularly high concentrations of contaminants where complete remediation will take a long time, to supplement existing measures we have introduced a new technique* that shortens the cleanup period to within six months, which we implemented at seven sites through fiscal 2005. We have achieved values within the environmental standards at Hakui Murata Manufacturing (Hakui Murata Manufacturing and Hakui Murata Manufacturing, Togi Site), and are working to reduce contamination concentrations by at least 90% from original levels at Iwami Murata Manufacturing. Both of these areas continue to advance remediation measures begun in fiscal 2006. We additionally began new decontamination efforts at Kanazu Murata Manufacturing Natsume Plant and Fukui Murata Manufacturing, Shirayama Site.

As of March 2009, cleanup efforts are in progress at seven locations. We plan further cleanups at two locations, and have already completed remediation at three business sites.

Due to the high cost burden of contamination remediation, Murata posts all expenses through to cleanup completion provisionally on its corporate accounts.

^*We implement and use decontamination methods according to application, based on soil quality, contamination concentration and the source location of the contamination: the in-situ bioremediation method, the in-situ iron powder method, the in-situ oxidative decomposition method, and other advanced technologies.

• In-situ bioremediation method
  Nutritional supplements are added to the groundwater to decompose chlorinated organic solvents using microorganisms living under anaerobic conditions in the soil.
• In-situ iron powder method
  Iron powder is mixed into the soil in-situ to decompose chlorinated organic solvents in the soil by the reductive capacity of metallic iron, rendering the solvents harmless.
• In-situ oxidative decomposition method
  Chlorinated organic solvents are directly decomposed and rendered harmless by oxidation in-situ, using the potassium permanganate oxidative decomposition method and adding hydrogen peroxide directly to the groundwater.