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.