Mie Gov. Eikei Suzuki said Wednesday he is considering helping to process and dispose of debris from the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
The work would be done in the city of Inabe.
Suzuki said he has approached Taiheiyo Cement Corp., a Tokyo-based firm that has been incinerating debris from the disaster since June at its Ofunato plant in Iwate Prefecture, for data to verify the technical feasibility of doing the work in Inabe.
He stressed that he would make the decision in close consultation with Inabe and other local authorities.
Taiheiyo Cement, which has a plant in Inabe, said it hasn't received an official request from the prefecture, but it will cooperate if the prefectural government can secure the approval of local residents to accept the debris and ensure that safety standards can be met.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's government has been calling on local governments outside the three disaster-hit prefectures in the northeast to cooperate more in tackling the debris.
As of early March, only 6 percent of the roughly 23 million tons of rubble estimated to have been generated by the disasters had been incinerated or otherwise disposed of.