Mining operations put environment at risk

Mining operations put environment at risk

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali

It was a superb day for the fishermen out in Buyat Bay in
North Sulawesi. However, when they came ashore on that day in
mid-1996, they were surprised by an odd scene: hundreds of fish
floating dead along the shore of the beautiful bay.

This was the first hint of the trouble that lay in store. Days
later, the fishermen and their families began to suffer from
rashes and sores, which progressed to debilitating headaches.

Several research teams were called in to investigate the
matter, and the teams concluded that the source of the ecological
damage was the nearby operation belonging to the Newmont Mining
Corporation.

In a report, the non-governmental organizations Mining Watch
Canada and Project Underground charged that PT Newmont Minahasa
Raya, a subsidiary of the U.S.-based Newmont Mining Corporation,
the world's second largest gold producer, had dumped some 2.8
million tons of tailings into Buyat Bay from 1996 to 2001.

They concluded that the tailings from the company had not
remained stable on the bottom of the sea as sediment nor had they
flowed down into deep sea canyons, as the company expected.

The tailings had instead spread throughout the bay, covering
the once-productive sea floor with mineral waste.

The result of this, according to the report, was the death of
a percentage of the bay's fish population and health problems for
people living near the bay.

The company has been ordered by the government to shut down
its operations by 2003, presumably because of the allegations
that it was responsible for the ecological damage.

Newmont Minahasa Raya, however, says the closure had long been
planned due to the depletion of the mineable gold deposit within
the company's contract area.

The company's spokesman, Richard Ness, also challenged the
report by the two NGOs, saying that the tailings dumped into the
bay had been cleaned and were non-toxic. In addition, he claimed,
tailings would automatically sink to the sea bottom and would not
float in the seawater.

He said the company had also carried out an investigation into
the death of the fish in Buyat Bay, and found that it was not
caused by the company's tailings, but rather by the fishermen's
use of explosives.

Mining operations around the world have been blamed for
environmental disasters. Particularly faulted is submarine
tailings disposal (STD), a technique used by mining operations to
dispose of tailings, which are crushed ore and rock after most of
the target metals have been removed.

One such example occurred in South Dakota's Black Hills in the
United States, where at least 1,000 birds died between 1983 and
1992 after drinking cyanide-laced water in ponds near gold mining
operations in the area.

Besides the environmental damage, mining operations have also
resulted in the forced eviction of indigenous peoples from their
ancestral lands, which is what happened to the Kelian people in
Kalimantan and the Amungne tribe in Papua. And despite their
suffering, there is often an absence of revenue sharing that
would benefit these indigenous peoples.

Given these abuses, it is little wonder that many NGOs are
fighting against mining operations, with their main demand being
a moratorium on new mining operations.

The NGOs, including Project Underground and the Mining
Advocacy Network (Jatam), have also called for the closure of
existing mining operations that have been found to have damaged
the environment.

Despite demands for a moratorium on new mining licenses and
the closure of unsustainable mining operations, the Indonesian
government remains aggressive in licensing new mining operations.

As of 2001, the government, in this case the Ministry of
Energy and Mineral Resources, had issued 3,246 exploration
permits. These consist of 893 mining concessions covering a total
area of 32.8 million hectares; 105 contracts of work covering a
total area of 25.7 million hectares; and 110 coal mining
operation permits covering 8.4 million hectares.

In addition, a total of 2,138 permits have been issued by
local administrations.

In truth, the business sector, including the mining industry,
has recognized the damaging effects of their operations,
especially in regard to the disposal of tailings.

There is a growing awareness among businesspeople and
executives that businesses should seek ways to make a profit
without sacrificing the environment.

"The industry is seeking new ways of reconciling the sometimes
conflicting demands of contributing to economic growth, social
improvement and environmental stewardship," Sir Robert Wilson,
the chairman of transnational mining company Rio Tinto, was
quoted as saying by the World Business Council for Sustainable
Development.

Indonesian Mining Association (IMA) executive P.L. Coutrier
said mining companies must improve their corporate
responsibility, including doing more for community development,
conducting more research and allocating more of their profits for
local communities.

"Research is very important for sustainable development, since
it could diminish the adverse impact of mining operations on the
environment, through, for example, the invention of new waste
disposal technology," Coutrier told The Jakarta Post recently at
the fourth preparatory committee meeting for the World Summit on
Sustainable Development, being held in Bali.

However, such research takes a long time to complete, and not
many companies are willing to carry out such expensive and time-
consuming research.

And the environment cannot wait. The government must take
immediate action to tackle the problems posed by mining
operations, including accelerating the deliberation of a new
mining bill to bring to an end environmental damage caused by
mining companies.

The deliberation of the mining bill has been going on since
last year, but still has not been completed.

But the bill alone is not enough. Soon after the bill is
passed into the law, there must be some guarantee that the law
will be enforced. This will not be an easy task, since
government officials here have a reputation for corruption.

A clean government is needed to ensure the implementation of
the mining law in the field. In the absence of clean government,
backroom deals between government officials and mining companies
could happen, resulting in the violation of environmental and
mining laws.

And in the end, the environment and the public would be the
losers.