176 North Sumatra firms declared toxic: Agency
176 North Sumatra firms declared toxic: Agency
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan
The North Sumatra Environmental Impact Management Agency
(Bapedalda) has discovered that at least 176 companies in the
province produced toxic wastes.
Industries found producing the most toxic wastes are located
in the Deli Serdang regency. Among the 77 industries are glass
manufacturer PT Kedaung, jeans bleaching company PT Pancaran
Cahaya Fajar, steel producer PT Tambah Mas Djaya and detergent
producer PT Juli Subur Fuddin.
Medan municipality is placed second, where 71 industries such
as textile producer PT Aribhawana Utama, chemical producer PT
Pasifik Chemical and aluminum smelter PT Sinar Raya Inti Baru
were found to produce toxic byproducts.
Third is Langkat regency with 11 industries, followed by
Labuhan Batu with four, North and Central Tapanuli with three
each, South Tapanuli and Asahan with two each, and Simalungun and
Sibolga with one each.
Chief of North Sumatra's Bapedalda, Syamsul Arifin, said on
Monday that the toxic content created by the industries were of
various kinds, including mercury, cyanide, sulfide, phenols,
heavy metals, ammonia, nitrate, acid residue and fluoride.
He said mercury had been detected in at least two gas plants
in Langkat regency, namely the Crude Distilling processing plant
and an asphalt processing plant, each with production capacities
ranging from 1.13 tons to 163.45 tons per day.
According to Syamsul, his office had given them warnings that
they had to recycle the toxic waste so that it would not harm the
environment.
If the toxic waste exceeded the pollution threshold, the
government will not hesitate to revoke their business permits, he
said during a discussion with Commission D on development affairs
at the North Sumatra legislative council.
Vice speaker of Commission D, Bustinursyah, who presided over
the meeting, said he would form a caucus to overcome the problem
involving officials from Bapelda, the legislature, environmental
organizations and students with an interest in environmental
issues.
Bustinursyah said the task of the caucus was to investigate
any damage that may have been done by the companies, and so that
council members would not have any doubts on the results assessed
by Bapelda.
"The investigations are useful to know how pollution levels
are produced by the companies. If results show levels have
exceeded the standard, we will recommend that the government
immediately revoke their operation licenses," Bustinursyah told
the Post.