Japan's Minamata Disease still lingers Posted  | Comment
 | Recommend E-mail | Print | SHIRANUI SEA, Japan — The dawn is
still only a faint glow beyond distant mountains, but fisherman
Akinori Mori and his wife, Itsuko, are already hard at work on
their boat, reeling in nets of squid, fish and crabs.  Nothing
about this placid scene reveals that Japan's worst environmental
disaster unfolded here.  Starting 50 years ago, whole
neighborhoods were poisoned by mercury-contaminated fish from
these waters. Thousands of people were crippled, and hundreds
died agonizing deaths. Babies were born with horrifying
deformities.  Today, the tragedy known as Minamata Disease is
only a dim memory to the rest of the world, and few outside
Japan would recognize Chisso Corp. as the company that polluted
Minamata Bay and the Shiranui Sea with deadly methylmercury. But
for Akinori, 62, and Itsuko, 58, and many of the people living
along these craggy coasts, the disaster never ended.  The Moris'
parents -- his father, both her par