FOR ADVERTORIAL: SATURDAY, JUNE 5
FOR ADVERTORIAL: SATURDAY, JUNE 5
Total E&P Indonisie has strong commitment to protect ecosystem
For Cenni, a shrimp farmer in Muara Kayu village in East Kalimantan, a job offer to replant a mangrove forest was a blessing that he could not have imagined before.
The married man was in financial trouble and in dire need of a side job because his three-hectare shrimp pond had failed to produce a good harvest. He kept wondering why the harvest failed until one day he was informed of the reason: the absence of mangrove trees in his pond.
In the midst of his uncertainty over his future due to the failed shrimp harvest, Cenni was offered work replanting mangrove trees in the estuary of the Mahakam River Delta.
"The money I received for the work was good enough. As we worked in a group, we could plant around 2,000 trees a day," Cenni recalled while viewing the growing green mangrove trees that he and his group planted three years ago.
While still hoping to receive more mangrove seeds to plant, he now feels confident about the future of his pond because he also replanted mangrove trees in his pond.
Cenni is one of 300 residents of different villages in East Kalimantan who benefited from the mangrove-replanting project implemented by Total E&P Indonisie, one of the country's largest oil and gas producers, in cooperation with local governments and related parties.
Villagers living in areas surrounding Total's operational sites are mostly shrimp farmers and fishermen. There has been growing concern about failed shrimp harvests over the last several years, with uncontrolled deforestation caused by aquaculture development cited as the cause. Therefore, many of the villagers welcomed Total's mangrove-replanting project.
Even though environmental issues in the Mahakam Delta area in East Kalimantan are the responsibility of local governments, Total, as one of the stakeholders in the area, has a strong commitment to protect the Delta's ecosystem for sustainable development, besides implementing best practices in environmental management for its operations.
French-based Total E&P Indonisie has operated the Mahakam block in East Kalimantan province since the 1970s, with seven oil and gas fields and, today, 500 production wells. The company's operations cover an area of 2,000 hectares or about 2 percent of the delta.
The company's environmental activities refer to the policy set by its headquarters in Paris, France. This policy respects international, national and local laws and regulations.
Externally, the company has been active in conserving the environment, with mangrove-replanting projects being one of the company's top priorities.
The mangrove-replanting program was introduced in 2000 when uncontrollable deforestation, which began in the early 90s, reached its peak. Thousands of hectares of forest have been converted into shrimp ponds with an average area of between 1.5 hectares and 40 hectares. As seen from above, numerous small and large areas have been left neglected and resemble football fields, except with no grass.
Based on the company's monitoring with satellite images integrated in a GIS (Gisoil) of the variations in vegetation coverage of the delta in 2000, it was found that deforestation reached about 80 percent of the total delta land area of 1,000 square kilometers. This had resulted in the loss of biodiversity, although some specific species like monkeys, varan, kingfishers and fish were found close to the company's installations.
Initially, local villagers were reluctant to replant mangroves when the program was launched, due to their lack of knowledge about the importance of the mangroves. However, many of them were willing to replant the mangrove after attending regular information courses.
According to Total's Environment Department head, Suripno, the first phase of replanting two million mangrove trees on some 550 hectares of land started three years ago and was targeted to be completed in 2005.
"However, it can be completed earlier than expected due to the local community's enthusiasm for the program," he said.
To attract the participation of local young people in conserving the environment, Total has turned mangrove-replanting into an interesting activity by holding mangrove-replanting contests, with participants coming from local junior high schools. The program involved junior high school students and the Bina Karya Environment Group and targeted eroded coastal areas in Handil Baru, Samboja district, not far from Total's Peciko Gas Processing Area (PPA).
"About 40,000 mangroves were planted in January of this year in the area. The plants are expected to stop further erosion by the tide," Suripno said.
In response to the problems arising from traditional ways of clearing land for shrimp ponds, which are detrimental to the sustainability of the activities, Total, in collaboration with local governments and related parties, has introduced the silvo- fishery pilot project, which is an environmentally friendly shrimp pond.
The pilot project introduced in 2001 is designed not only to encourage the sustainability of shrimp farming activities but also to protect the Mahakam Delta area from further degradation.
Unlike traditional ways of clearing land for shrimp ponds by cutting all mangroves and other kinds of trees, the shrimp ponds prepared under the silvo-fishery plan provide more space for mangroves to grow. "Based on a study, in addition to being a good medium to sustain flood, mangroves serve also as nursery grounds for shrimp and fish before going to sea," Suripno said.
Meanwhile, the head of the fisheries agency in Kutai Kartanegara regency, Bahteramsyah, hailed Total's deep concern for the Mahakam Delta area and its tangible actions to protect the environment, saying the collaboration on the mangrove- replanting and silvo-fishery projects were expected to continue in light of the fact that turning the Mahakam Delta area back into its previous condition will take time.
"It is not like turning over the palm of your hand," he said.
He acknowledged the local community's lack of knowledge about the functions of mangroves and environmentally friendly shrimp ponds. "Therefore, we have continue to provide information on the mangroves because the human factor is the key to solving the problem."
Numerous ponds, he said, have failed to produce good quality shrimp due to the absence of mangroves. "A pond's direct exposure to sunlight can cause shrimp to become stressed and vulnerable to disease," he said. "More shrimp farmers are expected to copy the environmentally friendly shrimp ponds."
While being active in environmental activities around its operation sites, Total has also consistently implemented strict environmental regulations inside the operation sites, given the many dangers the facilities could present. Internally, environment concerns include the company's methods of treating waste resulting from oil and gas production activities.
In treating every form of waste its operations produce, like water, gas flaring and sludge, Total has always been in compliance with local and central government regulations on the environment, including those on waste disposal or treatment. Produced water from each field, for instance, is treated at Oily Water Treatment Units (OWTU) to comply with standard criteria as set in East Kalimantan Gubernatorial Decree No. 26/2002 and environmental ministry Decree No. 42/1996.
Under the regulation, the required maximum amount of oil content in produced water is 40 mg/l so that it will not be detrimental to human and marine life. However, produced water in Total is treated into better water quality, with an average oil content of 25 mg/l, far below the maximum content required by the government, this being due to the company's strong commitment to preserving the environment.
To limit the greenhouse effect, Total has managed air quality to comply with national and international requirements by, for instance, using non-ozone depleting substance (Non-ODS) refrigerants for air conditioners, minimizing gas flaring to cases of emergency only, optimizing fuel gas consumption and monitoring greenhouse gas emissions.
"To comply with environmental Decree No. 129/2003 requiring emission from stacks to be monitored, we have made a hole in every stack to enable a monitoring tool to be inserted into the stack," Suripno said.
Total has also been innovative in creating waste treatment systems. The company has introduced bioremediation treatment, or what is called Industrial Pilot of Oily Waste Composting (IPOC), a treatment unit to process contaminated soils and cuttings biologically by applying the windrow and biopile method.
The idea of bioremediation of oily waste came up in 1994 but not until two years ago was the idea materialized because it had to be first studied thoroughly.
"Basically, with the method, microorganisms will break down the oil content so that the soils will turn back into natural soils," said Total site manager Dave Hainsworth at the Senipah gas processing facilities.
In spite of its operating normally, Total always has to be on alert for any unexpected incidents that might affect its operations and its surrounding areas. Apart from daily monitoring of water and air quality, the company has also prepared an oil spill contingency plan in case of an emergency, such as an accident related to the spillage of oil, whether on land, river or sea. Antipollution equipment, such as oil booms, a skimming unit, spate pumps, pollu-spray and antipollution boats are in place, with well-trained team on standby around the clock.
As a company with a strong commitment to the environment, Total E&P Indonisie makes relentless efforts to maintain the ecosystem, either inside or outside its operation areas, to ensure the sustainability of mangrove forests, local communities and oil and gas activities in the Mahakam Delta area. For Total, internal and external environmental programs are equally important given their inter-related effects.