Police take samples around rig, results in two weeks
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.