The Environment Ministry will pay the medical bills of residents of Kamisu, Ibaraki Prefecture, who fell ill after drinking water from wells contaminated by arsenic. The measures were announced Wednesday.
It is believed that the wells have been contaminated by poison gas abandoned by the Japanese military at the end of World War II, although the national government has not found any chemical weapons buried in the area.
So far, 20 people in Kamisu have reported numbness in their limbs, headaches, dizziness and other symptoms.