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)