Mercury spells disaster in W. Kalimantan
Mercury spells disaster in W. Kalimantan
Bambang Bider, Contributor, Pontianak, West Kalimantan
Rivers with clean water in West Kalimantan are a thing of the
past, an exotic memory for today's generation. The upper reaches
of Kapuas from which all of West Kalimantan's streams originate,
are in a disastrous state. River water is unfit for consumption;
muddy as a result of unlicensed gold mining activity and
contaminated with mercury used by the miners.
Foul water is not only a tragedy for the environment but can
cost human lives. In Minamata, a small area on the western coast
of Kyushu, Japan, thousands were left physically and mentally
disabled by a disease known as Minamata's disease. The disease
was caused by methyl mercury poisoning, a result of waste dumped
by the Chisso Corporation and claimed the lives of 1,800 people.
The Chisso Corporation had been dumping waste at sea since 1932.
Similar cases of deadly pollution occurred in Iraq (1961),
Western Pakistan (1963) and Guatemala (1966). In Indonesia, cases
were reported in Minahasa, northern Sulawesi (where rivers and
fishponds were contaminated by mercury and cyanide) and in
Tanjung Bungo, Pasaman regency in West Sumatra.
In the Kapaus Hulu Regency, the community of Cempaka Baru
village protested against the operation of 200 suction pumps by
unlicensed gold miners, which commenced in November 2002. The
unlicensed activity aroused the anxiety of local villagers
because of environmental damage, the declining health of the
community and socio-cultural conditions.
Unlicensed gold miners not only dig in places believed to
contain gold deposits but also suck sand from rivers. This has
caused the emergence of a new danger; the threat of mercury
poisoning.
Research by scientist Tugaswati in 1983 indicated that the
mercury level of several species of fish in West Kalimantan's
Kapuas and Landak rivers reached 50 mg/g far exceeding the
acceptable threshold of 0.5 mg/g for marine food products set by
the World Health Organization.
Research conducted in 2000 by Dr. Thamrin Usman of the School
of Agriculture, Tanjungpura University, Pontianak, showed that
samples taken from the junction of the Landak and Kapuas rivers
revealed a shocking mercury content of 199.27 ppm (parts per
million). Snakehead fish taken from the Tayan river registered a
mercury grade of 3.37 ppm. The maximum tolerable mercury content
is safe for human consumption is 0.46 ppm. This data indicates
there is an excessive mercury content in the Kapuas.
Further studies by Setyati and Nofrita in 2002 concluded that
samples of Kepah (Corbicula sp) and oysters (Anadara granulosa)
found for sale at traditional markets in the capital city of
Pontianak had mercury levels of 0.196 ppm and 0.686 ppm
respectively.
The latest research project -- undertaken from September 2002
to April 2003 by the Marine Resources Research Center (PPSDAK) in
cooperation with Tanjungpura University and the provincial
Industrial and Trade Research and Standardization Center -- has
released its results.
From February to March 2003 laboratory tests at the provincial
research center in Pontianak used hair and nail samples from
miners and communities around Monterado village, Bengkayang
regency, Ayak river, Kapuas Hulu regency, Sekayam and Tayan
rivers, Sanggau Kapuas regency, Nanga Sepauk, Mandor river,
Landak regency, as well as those from consumers of Pontianak's
municipal drinking water company (PDAM).
The project sought to measure the mercury level in the nails
and hair of people living around gold mines. Such biological
monitoring would thus indicate the impact of unlicensed gold
mining using the toxic metal. The research found that all miners
and consumers of PDAM water were contaminated by mercury.
Hair sample test results showed the highest mercury content
was found among people living near gold mines (4.69 mg/g). This
was followed by miners (4.39 mg/g) and PDAM consumers (1.30
mg/g). Nail sample results showed the highest level of mercury
for PDAM subscribers (2.80 mg/g), with lower levels for miners
(2.22 mg/g) and local people (1.76 mg/g). However, nail mercury
results were still within the normal range of 0.4-6.0 mg/g (Chen
et al.) although some samples exceeded this.
"Unless this situation is immediately rectified mercury
accumulation in Kapuas river will increase in the next five
years. The Minamata tragedy will repeat itself in West Kalimantan
as a consequence," PPSDAK researcher Michael Eko warned.
Eko said in all places where samples were taken, subjects
complained about declining health and low immunity to disease.
"The exact cause of the ill-health is not proved yet but as
mercury can enter the body through food, it may be an initial
indication of mercury accumulation," he said.
Provincial councillor Yanuarius Buan said he had urged the
government to take serious action as a result of Thamrin Usman's
research. At the very least this could make the West Kalimantan
public aware of the mercury threat. "But I've seen no proper
response to the issue," he added.
According to the Regional Environment Impact Control Agency,
the government faces the constraint of low public awareness, the
limitations of human resources, limited supporting facilities and
infrastructures, weak law enforcement, the sectoral ego and
overlaps between sectoral interests and environmental interests.
Miners use mercury to separate gold from other particles. The
burning of mercury in this process causes its escape into the air
and it ends up in the rivers and other bodies of water. The metal
undergoes biotransformation in the water and becomes methyl
mercury, which is consumed by plankton and contained in the food
fish eat. Through bioaccumulation and biomagnification in fish
and other biotas, it also enters the human body when contaminated
fish is eaten and can cause various health problems, such as
immune defficiency and cancers.
Nearly all rivers in West Kalimantan are the sites of
unlicensed gold mining using mercury. Most of this mining
activity takes place upstream, consequentially turning Kapuas
river into a receptacle of toxic waste.