Companies commit to environmental conservation

Companies commit to environmental conservation

Sudibyo M. Wiradji, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Natural resource-based companies such as oil producers, mine
operators and pulp and paper firms have often become the main
target of green activists, who protest over the poor handling of
their industrial waste.

Some of these companies, however, have shown a strong
commitment to taking care of the environment by imposing tight
environmental controls and ensuring that their operational
activities do as little damage as possible to their surroundings.

The country's giant oil producer PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia,
for instance, regularly hires local and international auditors to
carry out an environmental audit on the impact of its oil
exploration, drilling and processing activities.

"Our operational activities are subject to four or five
environmental audits each year," said Caltex's Manager of
Corporate Communication Harry Bustaman.

The government's agency for environmental impact management
(Bapedal) and the U.S.-based environmental audit company Arthur D
Little are among the environmental institutions involved in
auditing the company's operational activities.

The company's environmental activities adopt both national and
international standards, including the U.S.-based Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), the ISO 1400 standardization and the
Association of Petroleum Institutions (API).

Caltex, a subsidiary of US-based Chevron Texaco, operates a
number of oil blocks in Riau province, with 107 active oil fields
and 6,569 production wells. The company's operation site covers
an area of 25,500 square kilometers.

Gold and copper producer PT Freeport Indonesia, which operates
a massive gold and copper mining site in Timika, Papua, also has
a long-term environmental monitoring program to evaluate
potential impacts of the company's operations.

"This comprehensive program ensures that we have the necessary
scientific information for environmental management decisions
about our operations to minimize and mitigate environmental
impact," said Freeport's Senior Manager for Corporate
Communication Siddharta Moersjid.

With its strict environmental policy, the company is committed
to periodic internal and external audits. The company has been
subject to three external audits, in 1996, 1999 and 2003, by
internationally recognized, qualified environmental consulting
firms.

The most recent external audit was conducted by the Swiss-
based International Certification Services Division of Societe
General de Surveillance (SGS)," he said. "The SGS team identified
four relatively minor instances of non-conformity, which are
being corrected, and no major problems," he added.

Potential environmental impact issues arising from the natural
resource-based companies' operational activities are varied,
depending on what fields they are engaged in.

The area of business also determines the scope of
environmental projects. For oil producers, the potential
environmental impact issue is related to oily sand resulting from
the exploration of oil fields. However, mining companies face the
challenge of handling the disposal of rock waste and tailings.
Pulp and paper producers are obliged to handle the disposal of
waste resulting from paper processing activities.

Caltex said that to minimize the environmental impact from the
oil exploration and processing activities on the surrounding
area, the company had utilized an advanced technology that
enables the separation of oil from sand. "The sand is then put
back in the previous drilling site as part of the government's
mandatory reclamation efforts," he said, adding, "Trees are then
planted in the reclaimed area to make the area environmentally
safe."

Like Caltex, Freeport and gold and copper mine operator PT
Newmont Nusa Tenggara (PT NNT) also have a strong commitment to
managing the impact of their mineral waste.

Freeport, for example, uses sophisticated technology in
managing the dumping site for the company's mineral waste or
tailings, in the Ajkwa river.

Based on extensive tailings reclamation studies and actual
experience, the tailings deposition area can be readily
revegetated with native and agricultural plants as mining is
completed. "We are committed to revegetating impacted land when
it is no longer in use for our operation," said Siddharta.

The water in the Ajkwa River, which transports the tailings
from Freeport's mine in the highlands to the lowland deposition
area and in the tailings deposition area, meets the Indonesian
and the EPA's drinking water standards for dissolved metals.

Unlike Freeport, Newmont, which operates a massive gold and
copper mine in Batu Hijau, Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, uses Sub-
Sea Tailings Placement (STP) system to dump its mineral waste.

Based on environmental impact assessment (AMDAL) analyses for
its Batu Hijau site, the disposal of tailings in the sea, at a
depth of around 4,000 meters does not damage marine ecosystems,
sea habitats or marine animals.

The decision to use STP instead of on-land disposal was made
after carefully reviewing various options during the AMDAL
analysis, said PT NNT's External Relation Senior Manager Robert
Humberson.

Deep in the sea, there is little oxygen and biological
activity minimizes any impact on the environment,he said.

The license for the deep sea tailings placement system was
issued by the State Ministry of Environment in 2002, with Newmont
obliged to regularly monitor the quality of tailings resulting
from gold ore processing, tailings at tail-box, the sea water,
sea delta and the spread pattern of tailings in the sea.

Paper manufacturer PT Fajar Surya Wisesa (FSW) places the
environment as a top priority of its business in parallel with
the global trade trend requiring exported products to have eco-
labeling.

Fajar Surya which exports its products to 20 countries, mostly
in Europe, have been conducting tight environmental measures to
stay competitive in the green-friendly European market.

Environmental protection is inseparable from global trade
activities, especially with Western countries who issue
regulations for green products. "Because we are consistent in
implementing our environmental programs, we never face obstacles
related to environmental requirements," said M. Rivai in charge
of Environmental Affairs at Fajar Surya.

In order to keep the river near the factory clean and
unpolluted, the company has built a four-kilometer-long pipe
underground to channel the waste water into the sea.

The water produced from the waste water treatment area has no
environmental impact because the hazardous substances like
certain toxins are absorbed and diminished, and the result is
safe water. "The microbiology and bacteria also play a role in
processing the organic waste," he said.

The company conducts an evaluation on the waste water produced
by the company to prevent possible environmental impacts. "We
should know whether waste water treatment is really an effective
means of altering the waste water to non-hazardous substances,"
he said.