Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – A dark cloud appears to be dogging PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) following news reports exposing its payments to soldiers guarding the world's largest gold and copper mining firm in Papua, and its alleged poor pollution record.
The government said on Friday that the company was illegally dumping hazardous waste in a river near its mine in the resource-rich province.
PTFI must stop disposing of its mining waste in the Otomina river as it was endangering biodiversity and public health in the surrounding area, senior officials from the Office of the State Minister for the Environment told The Jakarta Post.
"What Freeport Indonesia is dumping in the river is toxic waste. We are sure of that," said Rasio Ridho Sani, an assistant to the deputy minister for the management of hazardous materials and hazardous waste in the mining, energy, and oil and gas sectors.
"What is more important is that the company has no license to dump its tailings, neither in the river, on land, nor in the sea. It has only been granted a license to recycle its waste." However, Rasio declined to comment on why the firm had been allowed to carry out such practices for over 30 years. "The current government has more political will to protect the country's environment," he merely said.
He said the environment ministry was investigating the pollution allegations against Freeport to obtain convincing evidence before taking legal action.
However, Rasio stressed that what was even more important was the preventing of further damage to the river and its hinterland.
"We want the tailings disposed of on land and the company must reuse or recycle its waste to minimize the amount of waste dumped," he said.
The next step was that Freeport had to stop polluting the Ajkwa river, which flows into the Otomina river.
Deputy Minister for Nature Conservation Enhancement and Environmental Destruction Control Masnellyarti Hilman confirmed a New York Times report that she had reprimanded Freeport over the pollution and told it to come up with an alternative tailing system. "When I was the deputy for compliance, I asked the company to stop using the river for waste disposal," she said.
Freeport's Aquatic Ecological Risk Assessment, carried out by the Washington-based Parametrix, an environmental consultancy firm, in 2002, which was obtained by the Post, stated, "Copper and tailings solids were the primary substances posing potential risks, and all other metals except zinc in sediment posed negligible risks."
However, the document also said that "it appears that as tailings settle out, they do not affect most species in the uppermost water column (i.e. nekton and plankton), but do pose potential risks to organisms living on and in the bottom."
In its executive summary conclusion, Parametrix advised that, "although it has been comprehensive, ongoing, and multi-year, it is desirable to modify this program (tailings) to address potential risks and uncertainties identified in this document."
State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar said his office would protect the country's environment by forcing major companies, such as Freeport, to comply with the nation's environmental legislation and regulations through its PROPER annual environment audit system.
"We are in the process in increasing the number of companies in the PROPER system from only 466 to include more firms prone to polluting, including Freeport and others," he said, adding that around 250 more companies could be included in the system.
Meanwhile, executive director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), Chalid Muhammad, demanded that the government set up a special team comprising the police, prosecutors, relevant government officials and environmentalists to investigate the Freeport pollution case.
"The government has to show its full authority in enforcing the law against any institution the violates our laws," he said.
Freeport executives refused to comment when the Post tried to reach them.
However, the firm's 2004 economic, social and environment report said PTFI secured a government-approved AMDAL (environmental impact analysis) in 1997 as well as the ISO 14001 certificate, which showed that the company was adhering to environmentally-friendly mine management.
The report also said it had conducted two environmental audits last year, involving Crescent Technology Inc., and had taken a number of actions to comply with the recommendations made by the auditor.