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.