Should this be volunteer work?

April 9, 2012

Workers collect radioactive leaves and branches in Fukushima park

People collect leaves and dirt in Bentenyama Park in Fukushima on April 7. (Mainichi)

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120409p2a00m0na015000c.html

FUKUSHIMA -- Around 350 people from inside and outside Fukushima Prefecture gathered at a park here on April 7 to rake and pick up leaves and branches believed to have been contaminated with radioactive substances.

Around 90 of those present at Bentenyama Park were from outside the prefecture. The gathering was organized as a result of cooperation between the prefecture and the Fukushima Municipal Government to secure decontamination volunteers. According to prefectural officials, the radiation in the air in the park, which had stood at around 1.4 microsieverts per hour, fell by up to 30 percent following the work.

Susumu Otani, 70, who came from Chiba Prefecture, said, "I heard about the damage to Fukushima through news reports and wanted to do something, and now I have helped."