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MINAMATA DISATER Intro The Minamata disaster was a huge chemical distribution that got into the Minamata bay and struck the small village of Minamata. The chemicals came from the waste water of the Chisso Corporation factory in Japan. The Chisso Corporation first opened a chemical factory in Minamata in the year of 1908. They were producing fertilizers. The waste products were released into the bay. This definitely had an environmental impact. From 1932 to 1968, Chisso Corporation a company located in Kumamoto Japan dumped an estimated 27 tons of Mercury compound into Minamata bay. The Mercury poisoning resulted in years of environmental destruction and neglect from Chisso Corporation. By 1925, the Chisso Corporation was dumping waste into the bay and destroying the fishing area. The theory behind the industry was to pay off the Minamata fishermen in exchange for damaging their fishing environment. Chisso started making plastic, medicine and perfumes through the use of chemicals called acetaldehyde in 1932. This chemical is produced using mercury as a compound and was a huge part in their products. Not until the mid 1950’s, did people start to notice a “strange disease”. Finally in July 1959, researchers from Kumamoto University concluded that organic mercury was the cause of the disease.

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