Former minister chides Newmont over Buyat case

Former minister chides Newmont over Buyat case

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Former state minister for the environment Sonny Keraf said on
Wednesday that PT Newmont Minahasa Raya, the only mining company
operating in Buyat Bay, North Sulawesi, had not met ecological
risk assessment (ERA) requirements during his tenure.

Speaking after he was questioned by the National Police as a
witness in the Buyat Bay contamination case, Sonny said he had
sent a letter in 2001 requesting Newmont to abide by the
standards set for heavy metal content in tailings.

The letter was sent to the U.S.-based company following
several public reports that the bay was contaminated, Sonny
added.

According to the former minister, at least 0.008
milligram/liter (mg/L) of mercury was found in every 5,000 cubic
liters of tailings disposed by Newmont daily, as well as 0.5 mg/L
of arsenic and 0.5 mg/liter of cyanide.

Sonny said he had also asked the company to conduct a study on
its operations impact on the surrounding environment after many
local residents complained about their deteriorating health and
reported that various species of fish in the bay had died.

"I received the results (of Newmont's research) subsequently.
However, I told police investigators (during the questioning)
that I couldn't accept the results for two reasons -- the samples
taken didn't cover a broad enough area, and the research was not
conducted in both the dry and rainy seasons," he said.

Sonny then asked Newmont to conduct a joint study to verify
the impacts of its mining operations at the bay. However, the
research never took place, as the company continued to postpone
it until he left his post in July 2001, when Megawati reshuffled
the Cabinet after succeeding impeached president Abdurrahman
Wahid.

The National Police have confirmed that Buyat Bay was
contaminated, but are still investigating the source of the
pollution, as they found neighboring Totok Bay was also
contaminated. Totok Bay is separated from Buyat by a two-
kilometer cape.

National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung
Sudjono said on Wednesday that the mercury content at a depth of
40 meters in Buyat Bay was 0.0055 mg/L, while the mercury level
at Totok Bay measured 0.007 mg/L.

Ministerial Decree No. 51/2004 on marine pollution standard
stipulates that the levels of mercury, lead, cadmium and copper
in seawater shall not exceed 0.001 mg/L, 0.008 mg/L, 0.001 mg/L
and 0.001 mg/L, respectively.

"PT Newmont claimed that it disposed its tailings at a depth
of 82 meters, but we found that water 40 meters from the sea
surface was contaminated," said Suyitno.

He said police also found mercury in fish from Buyat Bay, with
tissues from red grouper, tiger grouper and Napoleon fish showing
mercury levels of 20.8 parts per billion (ppb), 15.7 ppb and 27.5
ppb, respectively.

"However, we cannot use levels of mercury in fish (as
evidence), because we have no standard for this," Suyitno said.

Meanwhile, Newmont said the results of an environmental study
by Rizald Max Rompas of Sam Ratulangi University showed that the
mercury level in fish tissue was not high.

Instead, the company added, it was actually very low -- over
500 times below the World Health Organization's advisory limit
for mercury in fish tissue. WHO sets a standard of 500 ppb for
non-predatory fish and 1,000 ppb for predatory fish.

Kasan Mulyono, PT Newmont public relations manager, said in a
press statement that a study by the company showed that fish from
Buyat Bay was safe to eat, because they found mercury levels of
only 190 ppb.