Police tests confirm bay polluted<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik and Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Police laboratory tests have found heavy metal contamination in
\nBuyat Bay in Minahasa, North Sulawesi, silencing doubts over the
\npollution that has allegedly caused health problems for
\nresidents.<\/p>\n
Although not blaming PT Newmont Minahasa Raya mining firm,
\nwhich has for years disposed of its tailings in the bay, National
\nPolice chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung said on
\nFriday the police would ask the company to suspend operations in
\na bid to prevent the pollution from further affecting locals'
\nhealth.<\/p>\n
\"Our laboratory tests show that Buyat Bay is contaminated. The
\ntests on several samples we took from several locations in the
\nbay indicate that the level of metal exceeds the standard set by
\nthe Office of the State Minister of the Environment,\" said
\nSuyitno.<\/p>\n
Newmont Pacific Nusantara's environmental advisor Ali Sahami
\nhad told The Jakarta Post the company was aware of the high
\nconcentration of mercury and arsenic in the sediment of its
\ntailings and frequently reported it to the government. He said
\nthe tailings were detoxified before they were deposited anywhere
\nin the ocean or on land.<\/p>\n
Suyitno would not confirm whether the findings would enable
\nthe police to charge the company with environmental crimes as the
\ndemand to halt its operations will have little impact. The
\ncompany will close down in October, when its license expires.<\/p>\n
Simon Sembiring, director general of geology and mineral
\nresources at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said
\nthe company may stop operations earlier than October as it had
\nprocessed most of its stockpiles.<\/p>\n
\"It is still processing roughly 40,000 tons of ore stockpiles.
\nIt's not much, so it may be completed by the end of this month,\"
\nSimon told reporters on Friday.<\/p>\n
The company ceased mining operations in 2001 due to depleting
\ngold resources.<\/p>\n
Simon added that the company would have to do reclamation work
\nat the mining site until it met requirements under a post-closure
\nplan.<\/p>\n
\"They have to make sure the mining site is safe,\" Simon said.<\/p>\n
Kasan Mulyono, PT Newmont's public relations manager, said he
\ncould not speculate on the police announcement as the company had
\nnot received officially notification from the police.<\/p>\n
\"To date, all reliable results from independent and accredited
\nlaboratories verify that Buyat Bay is not contaminated,\" he said
\nin a press released made available to the Post.<\/p>\n
Suyitno revealed no details of the heavy metals that had
\ncontaminated the bay.<\/p>\n
The National Police earlier this month sent a team to take
\nsamples in 10 locations in the bay and surrounding areas. The
\nsamples included water, mud from the floor of the bay, fish and
\nblood and hair of residents.<\/p>\n
In 2001, the Office of the State Minister of the Environment
\nestablished that 0.008 milligram per liter (mg\/L) of mercury in
\nevery 5,000 cubic meter was disposed of by PT Newmont per day.
\nThe arsenic level was 0.5 mg\/L, while cyanide was 0.5.<\/p>\n
Chandrawati Cahyani, a biology expert from the Office of the
\nState Minister of Research and Technology, said Indonesia had set
\nthe mercury level at 0.002 mg\/L for safe drinking water while a
\ncolleague, Amin Soebandrio, an expert on physical health, said
\nmercury could endanger human life if its content in the blood
\nexceeded 30 micrograms per liter (ug\/L).<\/p>\n
Several earlier tests indicated that the mercury content in
\nresidents' blood exceeded the average level of 8 ug\/L set by the
\nWorld Health Organization.<\/p>\n
Aside from mercury, tests also found that the urine of
\nresidents contained between 85.63 parts per million (ppm) and
\n188.13 ppm of arsenic.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) said the
\ncontamination must have originated from Newmont as there was no
\nother source in the area. Besides, Walhi said that only 95
\npercent of mercury could be separated from ore while the rest was
\nreleased into the environment.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-tests-confirm-bay-polluted-1447893297",
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