Disposing of toxic waste

Disposing of toxic waste

As a regular reader of The Jakarta Post I value the
contribution of your paper to the Indonesian news coverage.
Unfortunately, some articles, such as the one entitled Govt
slammed for not halting MSM mining operation date Dec. 24 seem to
lack responsible editorial review. The article consists of
misleading and damaging statements.

The Executive Director of the Indonesian Center of
Environmental Law (ICEL) suggests that MSM is polluting (or is
intending to pollute) the environment, thus violating
Environmental Law No. 23/1997. This is incorrect, a balanced
comment would have been more appropriate.

A convenient but misleading reference is made to the Buyat
case leaving the reader with the impression that Newmont has in
fact polluted Buyat Bay by using submarine tailing placement
(STP). This is also wrong. Legal proceedings are still under way,
and a final verdict in the Buyat case is still outstanding. The
Center of Environmental "Law" is well advised to await the
outcome of proper legal proceedings before jumping publicly to
any biased conclusions.

ICEL also urges the government "to issue a permanent ban on
the disposal of toxic waste into the sea, such as STP", a
suggestion fully supported by the Mining Advocacy Network
(JATAM). I certainly concur that toxic waste needs to be disposed
off in an appropriate manner. However, ICEL and JATAM are both
aware that while some tailings are toxic, many tailings are not.
Generalization does not help the sensitive discussions of
tailings disposal.

An argument often brought forward by both organizations is
that Indonesia should ban STP because STP is not applied in most
other countries. However, a general ban of deep-sea tailings
disposal scheme would negate the fundamental principle that
environmental assessment is conducted on a site-specific basis.

Everybody, maybe with the notable exception of JATAM and ICEL,
acknowledges that Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago, a
region with high seismicity and high rainfall. Land mass is
scarce, and high rainfall together with high seismicity often
impose considerable challenges for safe land-based tailings
storage.

I believe a public apology from both organizations to MSM and
to the local people in North Sulawesi is in order. JATAM and ICEL
continue to mislead the public, preventing Indonesian citizens to
benefit from developing natural resources in an environmentally
friendly and safe manner. I am sure a public apology will reflect
the proper image of social responsibility that both organizations
wish to portray.

KARLHEINZ SPITZ, Jakarta

Note: Thank you for your information.

--Editor