Walhi unhappy with Freeport audit
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) has called for an independent team to verify the findings of an environmental audit on mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia.
In a statement released yesterday, the outspoken environment group urged the creation of a verification team to study the data, and said that the team has to be "transparent and accountable."
Walhi's call was a reaction to the release last week of a mostly favorable audit report on Freeport by environmental consultant Dames and Moore.
Based on ministerial decree No. 42/1994 the audit has to be verified by a government study. State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja has called the requirement "just a formality".
Sarwono has also expressed his confidence that the government audit "would not encounter any trouble" in its verification, citing the reputation and trust that Dames and Moore has acquired worldwide through the years.
He also said last Friday that there was no need for an independent audit to be undertaken.
Contrary to some claims in the audit, Walhi contends that Freeport is not advancing toward a "best practice in mining".
Dames and Moore was commissioned to conduct the audit in September to assess the environmental impacts of Freeport's mining operations in Irian Jaya. The U.S.-based company operates one of the world's largest copper and gold mines in Timika, Irian Jaya.
The final audit report proved to be quite favorable to Freeport, as it cited that the company is now demonstrating a much greater commitment to environmental management in its Irian operations.
The most contentious issue in the audit, and focused on by Walhi yesterday, was the tailings disposed of by the mining into the surrounding rivers. The audit stresses that the tailings are non-toxic.
The environment group maintains that the audit contradicts itself when it then says in a later section that the dissolved copper concentrations affected lower rivers and estuaries to the point that they could potentially harm aquatic ecosystems.
Furthermore, the fact that Dames and Moore urged an ecological risk assessment for indications of elevated copper levels in the Minajerwi estuary, underlines another point of serious concern, the group said.
Walhi went on to question the fact that Dames and Moore only defined the toxicity of the tailings based on the content of toxic chemicals such as cyanide.
"Dames and Moore did not take into account the non-lethal characteristics. It did not distinguish between lethal and non- lethal toxins," Walhi said.
If substances such as copper become a non-lethal toxin they would be accumulated in the body of a consuming fish and possibly cause a bio-accumulation which could lead to gene mutation which in the end is detrimental to bio-diversity, the pressure group pointed out.
Walhi further claimed that even though the actual concentration of copper is small compared to the total tailings being dumped per day, the accumulative effects of such a practice could be harmful.
Putting aside the question of toxicity, Walhi maintained that Indonesian law defines tailings as waste and thus its dispensing into the rivers is illegal.
Dames and Moore vice-president Paul Whincup told The Jakarta Post he appreciated the comments but also questioned Walhi's technical qualifications in making such an assessment.
"We do not fully understand what positive outcome these comments have in enhancing the recommendations made in the report or indeed the technical qualifications and experience of the Walhi representatives making the comments," he said.
Whincup added that "in all material respects Walhi is factually in error in their comments."
He said Dames and Moore would be willing to meet with Walhi to provide technical explanations and discuss in more detail the positive outcome of the audit recommendations. (mds)