Jakarta – US mining giant Newmont Mining Corp. voiced optimism that it would win a high-profile and protracted legal battle in Indonesia over charges that its local unit polluted a bay near its mine.
The comments came days ahead of the case going to court and as a judge in a separate case ordered an environmental activist to pay damages to the company over what he said were unfounded allegations of causing pollution.
A district court in Indonesia's North Sulawesi province will on Friday open the trial of Newmont Minahasa Raya, the Denver-based mining firm's Indonesian subsidiary, and its president Richard Ness.
Ness, who could face 10 years if convicted, expressed confidence that he and the company would win the case. "I'm very confident. The evidence shows that there's no pollution," he told reporters in Jakarta.
Robert Gallagher, Newmont vice president in Indonesia, said Newmont had a strong case. "It couldn't get any stronger. There's been no crime committed," he said.
State prosecutors last month filed charges against Newmont Minahasa Raya and Ness, accusing them of dumping toxic waste into a bay near its mine in North Sulawesi.
In what could be a boost to Newmont's case, judges in North Sulawesi on Tuesday ordered an academic and environmental activist, Rignolda Jamaluddin, to pay Newmont 750,000 dollars in damages for defamation.
Newmont had filed a lawsuit against Jamaluddin for alleging that the company had polluted the Buyat Bay and caused sickness among the population.
Judge Erna Matauteja said that Jamaluddin's allegations were baseless, the Elshinta radio reported. Newmont said Jamaluddin made the allegations during a seminar in June last year.
Jamaluddin was a member of a team formed by the environment ministry that concluded after conducting a peer review that high pollution levels were found at Buyat Bay and that the company was dumping mining waste improperly into the bay.
In another development, Indonesia's Supreme Court replaced two judges appointed to preside over the Newmont trial because they do not hold the necessary qualifications for environmental cases, said Julianna Wullur, head of the Manado district court. Wullur, who is one of the judges forced to step down, said new appointments had been made and the trial would go ahead as scheduled.
Indonesian police launched an investigation last year after claims Newmont had pumped toxic waste into the air and sea around its mine in Buyat Bay, causing neurological disorders and severe skin conditions in residents.
The government has also filed a civil lawsuit against Newmont, the world's biggest gold producer, seeking 1.24 trillion rupiah (130 million dollars) in damages – although this was expected to be settled out of court.
Newmont's operations in Buyat, 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) northeast of Jakarta, ceased in August 2004, shortly before the first allegations of pollution emerged.
From the outset, Newmont has claimed it disposed of toxins safely and that levels of mercury and arsenic found around the mine were within acceptable limits.
Studies of the waters around Buyat Bay have shown conflicting results. A World Health Organisation-backed report found no evidence of pollution, but government tests showed high levels of toxins.