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.