Fire at petrochemicals plant blamed for serious pollution

ID Nugroho and Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

Tuesday's devastating fire at a petrochemical plant in Gresik, East Java, in which two people were killed and more than 50 others injured, also appears to have caused serious environmental damage to neighboring areas.

The Jakarta Post observed the Roomo river in Manyar subdistrict which had previously been quite clean had pitch-black water after the fire, which engulfed PT Petrowidada a manufacturer of plastic raw materials -- phthalic anhydride and maleic anhydride.

White foam was seen on the surface of the river, which at times almost looked like it was boiling.

Trees on the riverbanks were also burned by the fire and others may die, after being exposed to chemical pollution.

Residents from Roomo village complained that the water in their wells -- which they relied on for cooking and bathing -- had been contaminated.

"I don't know why, but the water is red," said Subazir, a villager who lives five-meters-away from the river.

His neighbor, M. Yasir, said his family was temporarily staying in the house of his relative in another village.

"We will take refuge there because the air here has been polluted," he told The Jakarta Post.

Gresik health officials visited the location of the fire on Friday to investigate, but they refused to comment on the pollution of the area surrounding PT Petrowidada.

Separately, an inspector from the local nuclear supervisory board, Mulyono Samsunar, said he feared that the fire had resulted from an explosion of equipment at the factory.

If that was the case, the pollution could cause serious skin problems for local people, he added.

The equipment contained Calcium 137 which is particularly hazardous for the health of those who come into contact with it, Mulyono argued while visiting the company's premises.

Meanwhile, dozens of students and local people staged a demonstration against the company over the fire.

They accused the government and the company's management of only taking profit into account and ignoring the safety of local people.

"The fire has caused pollution like this, but the company does not want to be responsible," a protester shouted.

In another development, a number of plastic companies in East Java said the fire had not yet affected the supply of raw materials to their factories.

"So far there are no reports that plastic companies have complained about a lack of supplies after the fire razed PT Petrowidada," said Erlangga Satriagung, chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin) for East Java.

He said the companies that had previously received supplies from the firm had begun to make orders from suppliers in Tangerang, Banten province, and Bekasi in West Java province.

"Some of them will import raw materials from other countries," he added.

However, PT Petrowidada director Yudianto said that despite the fire, his company would still be able to continue producing Phthalic Anhydride (PA) III, despite its capacity of only 70,000 tons per year.

Before the fire, it had produced a total of 150,000 tons per year, he added.

Yudianto said PT Petrowidada had supplied raw materials to at least 20 companies in East Java.