Total E&P Indonisie has strong commitment to protect ecosystem

Total E&P Indonisie has strong commitment to protect ecosystem

For Cenni, a shrimp farmer from Muara Kayu village in East Kalimantan, an offer to replant mangrove was a blessing that he never imagined before.

A married man was in trouble and in dire need of a side job because his three-hectare shrimp pond had failed to bring good harvest. He kept wondering until one day he was informed about the reason: the absence of mangrove in his pond.

When he felt uncertain about the future due to the failed shrimp harvest, Cenni was offered to replant mangrove on a large scale on a coastal area in the estuary of Mahakam River Delta and be paid in return for the service.

"The money I received (in return for replanting mangrove) is good enough. As we worked in a group, we could plant around 2000 stalks a day," long-haired Cenni recalled while viewing the spread of growing green mangrove that he and his group planted three years ago.

While hoping to receive more mangrove seeds to plant, he now feels confident about the future of his pond because he has also replanted mangrove in his pond.

Cenni is one of the 300 villagers from different villages in East Kalimantan benefited from the mangrove-replanting project conducted by Total E&P Indonisie, one of the country's largest oil and gas producers, in cooperation with local government and related parties.

The villagers living in areas surrounding Total's operational sites are mostly shrimp farmers and fishermen. There is growing concern about the failed harvest of shrimps over the last several years, with uncontrolled deforestation caused by aquaculture development cited as the cause. Therefore, many of them welcome Total's mangrove-replanting project.

Even though environmental issues at the Mahakam Delta area in East Kalimantan is the responsibility of local government, Total as one of the stakeholders in the area has a strong commitment to protect the Delta's ecosystem for a sustainable development, besides implementing best practices in environmental management of its operations.

French-based Total E&P Indonisie operates the Mahakam block in East Kalimantan province since 1970s, with seven oil and gas fields and, today, 500 production wells. The company's operations cover an area of 2,000 hectares or about two percent of the delta.

The company's environmental activities refer to the policy set by its headquarter in Paris, France. This environment policy respects international, national and local laws and regulations.

Externally, the company has been active in conserving the environment, with mangrove-replanting projects being one of the company's top priorities.

The mangrove-replanting program was introduced in 2000 when uncontrollable deforestation which started in the early 90's reached its peak. Thousands of hectares of forest have been converted into shrimp-ponds, with an average area of between 1.5 hectares to 40 hectares. As seen above the sky, numerous small and large areas have been left neglected, resembling football fields but with no grass.

Based on the company's monitoring with satellite images integrated in a GIS (Gisoil) the variations in vegetation coverage of the delta in that year, it was found that deforestation reached around 80 percent of the total delta land of 1,000 square kilometers, with consequence of loss of biodiversity although some specific species like monkeys, varan, Kingfisher bird and fish found close to the company's installations.

Initially, local villagers were reluctant at replanting mangroves, when the program was launched, due to their lack of knowledge about it. However, many of them then were willing to replant them thanks to regular information courses on the matter.

According to Total's Environment Department Head Suripno, the first phase of replanting two million mangrove trees on some 550 hectares of land started three years ago and was targeted to be completed in 2005. "However, it can be completed earlier than expected due to local community's enthusiasm in the program," he said.

To attract participation of local young people in conserving environment, Total has turned mangrove-replanting into an interesting activity by holding mangrove-replanting contest, with participants coming from local junior high school. The program involved junior high school students and the Bina Karya Environment Group and targeted to eroded coastal area in Handil Baru, Samboja district, not far from Total's Peciko Gas Processing Area (PPA).

"About 40,000 mangroves were planted in January of this year in the area. The plants are expected to contain further erosion by the tide," Suripno said.

In response to the problem arising from traditional way of clearing land for shrimp pond that is detrimental to the sustainability of the activities, Total, in collaboration with local government and related parties, has introduced silvo- fishery pilot project or environmentally friendly shrimp pond.

The pilot project introduced in 2001 is designed not only to encourage the sustainability of shrimp farming activities but also to protect Mahakam Delta area from further degradation.

Unlike traditional way of clearing land for shrimp pond by cutting all mangroves and other typical kinds of trees, the shrimp-ponds prepared under silvo-fishery plan provide more spaces for mangrove to grow. "Based on a study, in addition to being good medium to sustain flood, mangrove serves also as a nursery ground for shrimp and fish before going to the sea," Suripno said.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Fishery Agency of the Kutai Kartanegara Regency Bahteramsyah hailed Total's deep concern over the Mahakam Delta areas and its tangible actions to protect the environment, saying that the collaboration regarding the mangrove-replanting and silvo-fishery pilot project is expected to continue in light of the fact that turning Mahakam Delta area back into the previous condition will take time. "It is not like turning the over the palm of your hand," he said.

He acknowledged local community's lack of knowledge about the functions of mangrove and the environmentally friendly shrimp ponds. "Therefore, we have to continue to provide information on the mangrove because human factor is the key to solving the problem," Bahteramsyah said.

Numerous ponds, he said, have failed to produce good quality shrimps due to the absence of mangrove. "Pond's direct exposure to sunlight can cause shrimps to be stressed and vulnerable to disease," he said, adding, "More shrimp farmers are expected to copy the environmentally friendly shrimp ponds."

While being active in environmental activities outside the operation site, Total has also consistently implemented strict environmental regulations inside the operation site given the many dangers the facilities could present. Internally, environment concerns include the company's methods of treating waste resulting from oil and gas production activities.

In treating every form of waste the operation produces like water, gas flaring and sludge, Total has always been in compliance with local and central government regulations on environment, including the one on waste disposal or treatment. Produced water from each field, for instance, is treated at the Oily Water Treatment Units (OWTU) to comply with standard criteria as set in the East Kalimantan Gubernatorial Decree No. 26/ 2002 and Environmental Ministry Decree No. 42/ 1996.

Under the regulation, the required maximum amount of oil content in produced water is 40 mg/l so that it will not be detrimental to human and marine life. However, produced water in Total is treated into better water quality, with an average oil content of 25 mg/l, far below the maximum content required by the government, this being due to the company's strong commitment to preserve the environment.

To limit the green house effect, Total has managed air quality to comply with national and international requirement by, for instance, using non Ozone Depleting Substance (Non-ODS) refrigerants for air conditions, minimizing gas flaring in case of emergency only, optimizing fuel gas consumption and monitoring green house gases emissions. "To comply with the Environmental Decree No. 129/ 2003 requiring emission from stacks to be monitored, we have made a hole on every stack to enable a monitoring tool to be inserted into the stack," Suripno said.

Total has also been innovative in creating waste treatment systems. The company has introduced bioremediation treatment what is called Industrial Pilot of Oily Waste Composting (IPOC), a treatment unit to process contaminated soils and cuttings biologically by applying windrow and biopile method.

The idea of bioremediation of oily waste came up in 1994 but not until two years ago was the idea materialized because it had to be first studied thoroughly. "Basically, with the method, microorganism will break down the oil content so that the soils will turn back into natural soils," said Total's Site Manager Dave Hainsworth at the Senipah gas processing facilities.

In spite of its operating normally, Total has always to be on alert in any possible unexpected incidents that might bring affecting its operations and its surrounding areas. Apart from daily monitoring of the water and air quality, the company has also prepared an oil spill contingency plan in case of emergency, such as an accident related to the spill of oil, whether it is on land, river or the sea. Anti-pollution equipments, such as oil boom, skimming unit, spate pumps, pollu-spray and anti-pollution boats are in place, with well trained team always standby around the clock.

As a company with a strong commitment on environment, Total E&P Indonisie makes relentless efforts to maintain ecosystem, either inside or outside the operation areas to ensure the sustainability of mangrove forest in Mahakam Delta area, local people and oil and gas activities. And for Total, internal and external environmental programs are equally important given the inter-related effects.