Buyat Bay tests show high mercury levels

Buyat Bay tests show high mercury levels

Abdul Khalik and Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta

Water consumed by residents living near Buyat Bay in North
Sulawesi, where U.S.-based PT Newmont Minahasa Raya has a mine,
contained higher mercury levels than normal, a laboratory test
confirmed on Thursday.

However, the test by the School of Mathematics and Natural
Sciences at the University of Indonesia (MIPA UI) revealed that
the mercury content of the water around the bay was far from the
sort of levels that could cause Minamata disease, which some
locals, aided by NGOs, claimed they were suffering from.

The findings were based on laboratory tests on the blood of
four villagers who consumed fish and drinking water from around
the bay -- Sri Fika M, Jukria, Masnah and Rasyid Rahmat.

They were among the residents of South Minahasa regency who
reported Newmont to the National Police last week for allegedly
polluting the bay. The residents claimed they were suffering from
Minamata disease.

The tests revealed that the mercury levels in the blood of Sri
Fika, Jukria, Masnah and Rasyid Rahmat were 9.51 microns per
liter (u/L), 22.50 u/L, 14.90 u/L and 23.90 u/L respectively.

"The test results show that mercury levels in the blood of
each of the residents is above the normal level of 8 u/L, while
the blood mercury level required for the appearance of Minamata
disease is between 200 and 500 u/L," said Dr Budiawan, the head
of the MIPA UI's Center for Environmental Safety and Risk
Assessment, in a press statement.

As the tests had nothing to say about the sources of mercury
in Buyat Bay, Budiawan called for a thorough analysis to
determine where the metal came from.

Further analyses were also needed to assess the possibility of
other dangerous chemicals, including arsenic, cyanide and
manganese, being present in fish and drinking water around the
bay.

Earlier this week, State Minister for the Environment Nabiel
Makarim declared that mercury levels in Buyat Bay were safe.

The four people who claimed to be suffering from Minamata
disease only had skin ailments, he said.

On Wednesday, a group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
submitted a number of scientific reports stating that dangerous
concentrations of at least four heavy metals had been present in
the bay since 1996.

According to the reports, the mercury level in bay sediment
near the PT Newmont tailings pipe outlet in 2004 stood at an
upper level of 3.509 -- above the World Health Organization
limit.

PT Newmont has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, claiming it
has been operating in Indonesian in compliance with the
prevailing legislation.

Kadar Wiryanto, a senior environmental manager at Newmont
Pacific Nusantara, said he could not comment on the MIPA UI
tests.

"We will look into it. Our company will take every allegation
seriously," he said after a seminar on the alleged mercury
contamination in Buyat Bay on Thursday.

In another development, Imam Hendargo A. Ismoyo, from Nabiel's
office, said that the tests conducted by MIPA UI had not measured
the levels of methyl mercury in the residents' blood. High levels
of methyl mercury were chiefly responsible for Minamata disease.

"To test for methyl mercury, blood samples must be tested
either in the United States or Japan," said Imam, who led a
government team investigating the case.

He said the government was setting up a joint team to conduct
further investigations, consisting of officials from the Ministry
of Health, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the
Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, the Office of the
State Minister for the Environment, and the Technology Assessment
and Application Agency (BPPT).

The team would also include experts from the University of
Indonesia, Padjajaran University and the Bandung Institute of
Technology (ITB), as well as former environment minister Emil
Salim and former health minister Farid Anfasa Moeloek.

Meanwhile, Wan Alkadri, the environmental health director at
the health ministry, said his office had asked the Minamata
Institute in Japan to help investigate the case.

"We would like to know if it possible for the institute to
send some experts here. We also would like to send blood samples
to them for (methyl mercury) tests," he said.