Activists accuse PT Newmont of polluting the environment
Activists accuse PT Newmont of polluting the environment
MANADO, North Sulawesi (JP): Environmentalists said here over
the weekend that the submarine tailing disposal (STD) used as a
waste disposal system by gold mining firm PT Newmont Raya
Minahasa (NRM) was unsafe for the environment as it had affected
the sea habitat and human beings.
Coordinator of the Network for Mining Advocacy (Jatam) Chalid
Muhammad said reports disclosed that PT NRM had polluted the
environment nearby its operation site with hazardous chemical
substances, including mercury and arsenic.
He alleged the substances found were part of the waste
disposed by the company at Buyat Bay.
The data on alleged pollution was supported by the results of
blood tests on local residents in Buyat village near the mining
site.
The examination was carried out by Jatam and the Indonesian
Environmental Forum (Walhi) in 1999.
"The blood of Buyat villagers in Belang district of Minahasa
regency have been contaminated with dangerous levels of mercury
and arsenic. They have been consuming fish from water which has
been polluted by hazardous chemicals," Chalid told a conference
on the submarine tailing disposal.
His analysis was supported by an expert on toxicology of the
school of fisheries at the state-run Sam Ratulangi University,
Markus Lasut, who said that inorganic mercury and arsenic
contained in the STD were disentangled by sea microorganism to
become organic substances. The organic substances were then
consumed by fish and other sea organisms.
"If human beings consume the contaminated fish, their blood
will be contaminated," he said.
Buyat villagers reportedly had suffered from skin irritation,
acute headaches, sore throats and queasiness.
"Environmentalists urged that the gold mining firm stop using
STD. If the pollution is not stopped, a Minamata tragedy (in
Japan) can occur in Minahasa."
An official at the mining company Krisna Isma Putra, however,
asserted that STD used by Newmont was safe for the environment,
saying that the company had never used mercury nor arsenic in its
mining activities.
He said the public should be made aware that in the vicinity
of the company mining sites there were a number of illegal mining
operations that extracted gold using pure mercury.
"This fact (illegal mining) has never been examined by those
environmental activists," he said.
Meanwhile, Roger Moody from Nostromo Research rejected the
argument that the STD installed by PT Newmont was safe.
"Widespread pollution is unavoidable if an earthquake occurs,"
Moody said.
The conference on the submarine tailing disposal was jointly
held by Jatam, Walhi, Project Underground, Mineral Policy
Institute, and Jaring Pela from April 23 until April 30.
The seminar was participated in by a number of foreign non-
governmental organizations, including those from Papua New
Guinea, Britain, the Philippines, Australia, New Caledonia and
Fiji. (48/emf)