Court rules against Freeport on fatal accident<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): U.S.-based mining company PT Freeport Indonesia
\nsuffered a legal blow on Tuesday when the South Jakarta District
\nCourt ruled against it, saying that the firm had spread
\nmisleading information about an accident that allegedly claimed
\nfour lives at its operation in Irian Jaya two years ago.<\/p>\n
\"The accused (Freeport) did not reveal the truth behind the
\nincident,\" presiding judge Rusman Dani Achmad said in the
\nverdict.<\/p>\n
Freeport, which has been operating here since 1960, faced the
\nlawsuit filed by the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi).<\/p>\n
Rusman said Freeport had violated Law No.23\/1997 on
\nenvironmental management, which requires every company to provide
\naccurate and correct information about its environmental
\nmanagement activities.<\/p>\n
The court ordered Freeport to follow the Environmental
\nManagement Impact Agency (Bapedal) guidelines on the rate of
\nchemical waste it is allowed to release into rivers or lakes to
\nstop the level of environmental damage there.<\/p>\n
Freeport is also required to reduce the amount of waste by
\nfollowing guidelines from Bapedal and to maximize the function of
\nits early warning system for floods at its operation in Irian
\nJaya.<\/p>\n
However, the court rejected Walhi's demand that Freeport make
\na public apology through national and international mass media.<\/p>\n
Walhi sued the firm following a fatal accident on May 4, 2000,
\nwhen a large pile of waste belonging to Freeport at Wanagon Lake
\nnear its copper and gold mine in Grasberg, Irian Jaya, collapsed.
\nFour workers went missing during the accident and were presumed
\ndead.<\/p>\n
The accident also caused a flood in Banti, a village about 16
\nkilometers from Wanagon Lake. Residents there said the early
\nwarning system for floods was triggered 30 minutes after it hit
\nthe village.<\/p>\n
Freeport, however, claimed that the incident was caused when a
\nlarge amount of waste toppled over, causing water and material in
\nthe Wanagon basin spillway to spill over into Wanagon valley.<\/p>\n
In its news release on May 5, 2000, Freeport said that several
\ndays prior to the incident, rainfall in the area amounted to 40
\nmillimeters a day, or five times more than usual.<\/p>\n
Freeport also claimed that the early warning system had been
\nset up perfectly. The information was also mentioned during a
\nhearing with the House of Representatives Commission VIII for
\nenvironmental, science and technology affairs on June 28, 2000.<\/p>\n
In a news release dated May 24, 2000, Freeport claimed that
\nthe May 4 accident did not pose any risk to human health or have
\nan impact on the environment.<\/p>\n
The court also stated that Freeport had damaged the
\nenvironment as revealed by the Environmental Impact Management
\nAgency (Bapedal).<\/p>\n
The agency reported on April 3, 2000, that Freeport had used
\nWanagon Lake to dump and neutralize acid slag, which had polluted
\nWanagon river in June 1998, and from March 21 to March 25, 2000.
\nIt also reported on May 17, 2000, that the sediment in Wanagon
\nLake at the time of the incident contained poisonous and
\ndangerous material.<\/p>\n
Lukmanul Hakim, a lawyer for Walhi, said that the verdict
\nreflected the success of Indonesians in general and the Irianese
\nin particular on maintaining the environment here.<\/p>\n
\"This is a good start for similar cases,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Walhi chairwoman Emmy Hafild praised the judges who were
\nshowing concern for environmental cases.<\/p>\n
\"The verdict carries a message that companies here are
\nrequired to give accurate information to the public, particularly
\non environmental issues,\" she told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Minang Warman, the lawyer for Freeport, said that
\nhe would file an appeal.<\/p>\n
He said after the trial that the verdict was based on several
\nmatters that were not included in the plaintiffs statement of
\nclaim, such as the requirement to reduce pollution. (04)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/court-rules-against-freeport-on-fatal-accident-1447893297",
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