Police take samples around rig, results in two weeks

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Police have taken samples of an oil spill caused by a China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) rig in Kepulauan Seribu, or Thousand Islands regency, as part of the ongoing investigation into allegations that the company was polluting the area.

"Our team took the samples on Thursday and have directly submitted them to the National Police forensic lab," Special Crimes chief Sr. Comr. Edmon Ilyas said on Friday.

The investigative team is comprised of officials from the Oil and Gas Implementing Body (BP Migas), the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) and officers from the police's forensic and environmental departments.

The BMG officials were there to survey wind direction in the area to provide a clue as to where the oil spill in the northern coastal waters originated.

Edmon said lab results were expected within the next two weeks, but administrative procedures might delay the announcement for a month.

Once the result is ready, police will compare the chemical composition of the oil spill with that of the oil samples taken from the CNOOC rig.

If the two match, CNOOC will be held responsible for the pollution; if they do not, police will pursue other lines of investigation to identify the culprit.

Police had earlier submitted samples from an oil spill in the Thousand Islands on Jan. 12. Lab results showed that the acidity of the waters had a pH of 5.7, indicating that conditions were more acidic than usual. Normal acidity ranges between 6 and 9 pH.

City police resources and environment department head Adj. Sr. Comr. Ahmad Haydar said they had not dismissed the possibility that the oil spill could have come from oil tankers passing through the Java Sea.

The investigation was prompted by newspaper coverage of protests by the Environmental Preservation about pollution in the Thousand Islands.

Fishermen living in the area have also complained about water pollution, which they claimed had reduced their income from Rp 300,000 (US$35) to Rp 100,000 a day.