Pertamina criticized for oil-leak chaos

Pertamina criticized for oil-leak chaos

Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Cilacap

At least 3,000 square meters of swampy area and farmland in
Karangbawang, Cilacap Regency, have been seriously contaminated
by diesel oil leaking from a large pipe belonging to the state
oil company Pertamina's distribution unit in Cilacap, Central
Java.

The oil leak that was discovered last Saturday has killed all
the crops and flora on the farmland, as well as thousands of
fish.

Local farmers said they were holding negotiations with
Pertamina's local office on financial compensation for their
plants and paddy fields damaged by the oil.

They said they detected the oil leak last Saturday but
Pertamina's technicians only arrived on Monday.

"Pertamina has acted too late and so far, no action has been
taken to repair the pipe," said Ratno, who found the oil leakage
when he was fishing in the area on Saturday.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Pertamina technicians had yet
to repair the leak because the pipe was buried 1.5 meters
underground.

I Gusti Bagus Wisnu, spokesman for Pertamina's distribution
unit, said the leaking pipe was part of the distribution line to
Padalarang and Bandung, West Java.

"But the leak does not affect the distribution of diesel oil
to Padalarang because Pertamina still has another pipe for the
same purpose," he said.

He said the technicians needed a week to repair the leaking
pipe because they had to block it first from water inundation
before soldering the leakages.

He added that Pertamina was taking measures to minimize the
damage to the environment.