Newmont denies role in toxic waste trade
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
West Nusa Tenggara-based copper mining firm PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara has denied allegations that it is involved in illegally trading toxic waste, particularly used oil.
Anton Susanto, an executive of the company, said that his company had never been involved in any such illegal activity.
"Our company always manages used oil and other toxic waste from mining activities according to the regulations. We always follow the procedures stipulated in regulations regarding the storage and collection of toxic waste," he said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post recently.
Anton was responding to allegations made by an executive of the West Nusa Tenggara chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI-NTB) last month.
Bambang F. Mei, Walhi-NTB regional executive, said that based on investigations, reports from informed sources and scientific analyses, the company had engaged in the illegal trade of toxic wastes, such as used oil and diesel fuel.
"We have received reports about irregularities in toxic waste handling procedures, including allegations of (involvement in) the toxic waste trade," Bambang told reporters in the provincial capital Mataram last week as quoted by Antara.
According to Bambang, Newmont sold used oil to a toxic waste collection company, UD Sumber Anyar, for Rp 200 to Rp 500 per liter. Each month, Bambang said, Newmont produced 100 to 150 tons of used oil.
Newmont contracted UD Sumber to transport its used oil and toxic waste to its treatment facilities from October 1999 to September 2000.
Bambang said that what Newmont had done was in violation of the 1997 Environmental Management Law No. 23, which stipulates that toxic waste must not be traded.
Anton confirmed that Newmont had engaged UD Sumber Anyar to transport used oil to treatment facilities. But while UD Sumber Anyar had paid for some of the oil received, the amount was far less than the cost to Newmont of transporting the used oil from the mine site, Anton said.
Walhi-NTB also alleged that Newmont had hired a new contractor without a proper permit to transport its toxic waste after the contract with UD Sumber Anyar expired.
Bambang said that, after its contract with UD Sumber Anyar had ceased, Newmont hired PT Caltex Oil Indonesia to transport its toxic waste. PT Caltex, according to him, did not have the relevant permit from the central board of the Environmental Impact Control Agency (Bapedal), the local Bapedal office or the directorate general of petroleum and gas.
Later, and still without the permit, PT Caltex cooperated with a shipping company, PT Meratus, in Surabaya, East Java to sell toxic waste, he said, adding that PT Meratus did not have a license to transport and distribute toxic waste.
"There is a mutually beneficial collaboration between the three companies. Newmont in a legal and ethical sense is considered accountable for violating toxic waste treatment procedures," Bambang said.
Anton said that Newmont had always hired authorized contractors to transport its used petroleum products to a licensed used oil recycling facility in Surabaya or to a permitted waste treatment facility in Bogor, West Java.
"The transport of used oil from the mine site to the facilities is conducted under the authority of Bapedal and the directorate general of sea transportation," he said.
Anton also said the choice of PT Meratus to transport used products was a business decision and had been conducted in accordance with the laws and regulations.