OSAKA -- Tests on soil samples taken from areas around a controversial incinerator in the town of Nose, Osaka Prefecture, revealed that two sites had dioxin levels exceeding limits set by the Environment Agency, operators of the facility said Monday.

According to officials at the cooperative running the Toyono Incineration Center, soil at two out of the 25 sites studied in December had dioxin levels exceeding 1,000 picograms per gram of soil -- a level at which measures are needed to rectify the situation, according to the agency.

Soil taken from earth about 50 meters north of the incinerator registered a dioxin level of 1,800 picograms per gram, while soil from a spot roughly 120 meters north-northwest logged a level of 1,300 picograms.

Dioxin levels recorded from other samples ranged between 23 and 780 picograms per gram of soil, according to the report, which was submitted to the prefecture's commission on dioxin affairs.

The commission approved the co-op's plan to build a temporary water treatment facility at spots where contaminated water runs off from the incinerator and to also remove contaminated soil from around the two problem sites.