Anger over US jet’s fuel dump

THE mayor of a small town in northern Japan has demanded that the US ground its fighter jets at a nearby airbase after an F-16 jettisoned external fuel tanks into a lake in what is just the latest embarrassment for the military.

Fishermen on Lake Ogawara, close to the Misawa Air Base, reported that the two fuel tanks hit the lake about 600ft away from where their boats were gathering freshwater clams. There were no reports of injuries

“We have lots of fishermen. One wrong step could result in a catastrophe,” Koji Ebina, the mayor of Tohoku, in Aomori prefecture, said.

The local fisheries association has suspended fishing until the fuel is cleaned up, Mr Ebina said, adding that they would be seeking compensation.