Newmont manager named suspect
Newmont manager named suspect
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After more than a month of investigation, the National Police
named on Wednesday the head of waste disposal at PT Newmont
Minahasa Raya a suspect in a pollution case involving the United
States-operated mining firm.
National Police detectives chief Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung
Sudjono said the manager, whose identity was withheld, was the
person in charge of ensuring the company's waste disposal system
was in accordance with Law No. 23/1997 on the environment.
The police announcement came a day after State Minister of the
Environment Nabiel Makarim announced that a review by 16
scientists from several universities and independent
organizations concluded that PT Newmont had violated regulations
and contaminated Buyat Bay.
Under the law, an individual found guilty of deliberately
contaminating the environment may face up to 10 years of
imprisonment, or 15 years if the pollution causes the death or
physical suffering of a human being.
Suyitno said the police would question the company official on
Monday.
"We will begin with the official. If we find that he provided
his superiors with periodical reports that they didn't act on, we
will question them also," Suyitno said.
Article 46 of Law No. 23/1997 states that a company can be
implicated in a pollution case if it is proven that a violation
has been committed with the knowledge of the company. In that
case, the top ranking official will be held responsible for the
offense.
Palmer Situmorang, PT Newmont's lawyer, said his client was
ready to comply with the police's summons at anytime.
"We will not evade the legal process. We are ready for
questioning, either as a witness or suspect, and are set to prove
in court that we are not guilty," he said.
Suyitno said a police investigation had found that PT Newmont
had contaminated Buyat Bay and Buyat River with heavy metal
substances.
"PT Newmont has deposited its tailings between 73 meters and
83 meters beneath the surface of the bay, while experts say the
thermocline in Buyat Bay is located between 100 meters and 200
meters below sea level. The tailings can dissolve in water if
they aren't disposed of under the thermocline layer," he said.
Police laboratory tests showed that the level of mercury and
arsenic 40 meters below the surface of Buyat Bay water was 5.5
microgram/liter (ug/L) and 50.70 ug/L respectively, far above the
standard of 1 u/L for mercury and 12 u/L for arsenic set by
Decree No. 51/2004, which was issued by the Office of the State
Minister of the Environment on seawater and river pollution
standards.
Suyitno said it was also possible that the company had
deposited of its waste in Buyat River, as the police test showed
the content of mercury and arsenic there exceeded the standard
set by the decree.
PT Newmont has repeatedly questioned the results of police
laboratory tests, which have been contrary to tests run by other
institutions.
The company said tests of 390 samples by PT ALS Indonesia
showed a mercury level of only 0.055 u/L, while tests by the
Office of the State Minister of the Environment showed a level of
0.059 u/L and Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organization (CSIRO) found 0.005 u/L.