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| 1. Product Recalls |
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| The company's policy on product recalls is in accordance with the statutes of Honda's Quality Committee. In the course offiscal 2001, we notified the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan of an environment-related product recall as follows. |
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| Common name |
CR-V |
| Model |
LA-RD5 |
| Number of vehicles to be recalled |
1,997 (those manufactured during the period from September 5, 2001 to December 26, 2001) |
| Defect |
For the VSA (Vehicle Stability Assist)-equipped vehicles, because of the improper control program of the engine control computer, the air-fuel ratio control function does not properly function and as a result, the emission gas does not meet the emissions standards of Japan. |
| Improvement |
To replace the engine control computer with non-defective one |
| Measures to make the users and overhauling companies aware of the defect |
For users, we notified them of the defect by direct mail. For overhauling companies, we notified them of the fact through the bulletin published by Japan Automobile Service Promotion Association. |
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2. Compliance with Legal Acts and Regulations/Action in Emergencies
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| All factories have an ongoing commitment to environmental improvement activities in accordance with the Management System Standards laid down in ISO14001. For all environmental aspects, the company has established and strictly abides by its own voluntary standards that are more stringent than the national or regional regulations. In accidents or emergencies liable to cause environmental pollution, individual factories and their individual departments have clearly-defined procedures and priorities to prevent or mitigate pollution. Daily activities include regular emergency drills and training events to acquire and improve competence in accident and emergency defense procedures. |
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There were no environment-related lawsuits filed against Honda in fiscal 2001. |
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There were two complaints about the noise of construction works. We took immediate actions to correct the problem and followed the matter up by again cautioning the internal staff and the constructors. From now on, we will check the construction plan in advance and conduct onsite inspection to prevent such complaints to be made again. |
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There were no environment-related emergencies in fiscal 2001. |
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3. Measures to Prevent Soil and Underground Water Pollution
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| 1) Past measures |
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| At each of Honda's factories, soil and underground water have been surveyed and monitored to check for harmful substances in them based on the idea that "symbiosis with local communities" is important. These activities are conducted as part of the Green Factory activities at the observation wells established within the premises of the factories. As a result, it is confirmed that harmful substances used at the factories have never been emitted beyond the boundaries of the premises. |
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2) Survey conducted in fiscal 2001
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| In fiscal 2001, the following surveys were conducted at the factories in Japan: |
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At the Saitama Factory's Wako Plant, cyanogen and trichloroethylene that exceeded the environmental standards of Japan were detected respectively in soil and underground water and in underground water. In the Saitama Prefectural Government's survey subsequently conducted on underground water, no such harmful substances were detected outside of the Plant. |
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At the Suzuka Factory, benzene, cyanogen and hexavalent chromium that exceeded the environmental standards of Japan were detected in underground water. In the Mie Prefectural Government's survey subsequently conducted on underground water, no such harmful substances were defected outside of the Factory. |
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At the Tochigi Factory's Mohka Plant, trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene that exceeded the environmental standards of Japan were detected. The Plant, however, has never used these substances. |
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Our factories in Japan other than those listed above met the environmental standards of Japan for soil and underground water. |
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Please see page for the factories' underground water-related data. |
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| 3) Present measures to prevent pollution and to purify soil and underground water |
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The Saitama Factory's Wako Plant is continuously preventing the emission of trichloroethylene to the exterior of its premises by the use of the purification devices installed at the sources of pollution and at the boundaries of its premises. For cyanogen, it is continuously preventing the emission to the exterior of its premises by the use of the pumping wells installed at the boundaries and has implemented the measures to prevent the substance from being dissolved into soil. The Plant will implement the measures to make the substances permanently harmless by heat decomposition of the polluted soil by March 2003 and will continuously monitor the substances on a regular basis. |
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The Suzuka Factory treats the underground water containing benzene by aeration at its wastewater treatment plant. It also treats wastewater containing hexavalent chromium and cyanogen by flocculating setting as well as by biological treatment. The Plant will also implement the measures to make the substances permanently harmless by heat decomposition of the polluted soil by March 2003 and will continuously monitor the substances on a regular basis. |
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| 4) Future measures |
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As described above, the polluted soil at the Saitama Factory's Wako Plant and at the Suzuka Factory will be purified by the end of March 2003. Besides at other factories, surveys and monitoring on soil and underground water will be promoted also at places where harmful substances are not used.
At some of Honda's factories, treatments containing lead, hexavalent chromium and cyanogen are used in the production process. The use of lead and hexavalent chrorium will be discontinued by the end of March 2003, but surface treatments containing cyanogen will be continuously used, paying careful attention for pollution prevention. We will, however, examine alternatives to discontinue the use of cyanogen as early as possible. |
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| 5) Information disclosure |
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We notified the survey results on soil and underground of the Saitama Factory's Wako Plant and of the Suzuka Factory respectively to Saitama and Mie Prefectures and voluntarily announced the results to the general public. Besides we gave explanations about the results to local citizens through local community groups. The Saitama Factory's Sayama Plant notified the results of the survey on its soil and underground water to Saitama Prefecture, proactively responding to the Prefecture's request. We also voluntarily announced the survey results of other factories on our Web site.
For soil and underground water situations at Honda's factories, please access:
http://www.honda.co.jp/environment/topics/c020528/c020528.html (Japanese only) |
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