Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – More than two months after hot toxic mud began to gush out of a gas well in Sidoarjo, East Java, experts warn that no technology may be able to stop it.
They urged the government Monday to consider evacuating and relocating people and businesses in the affected area.
Veteran geologist Andang Bachtiar said the government and oil and gas prospector Lapindo Brantas Inc. had tried various tactics to stop the mudflow, but to no avail.
After locating the source of the mud, workers dug relief wells. When that effort failed, they tried intercepting the stream, but with equally poor results, Andang said.
"It (the mud flow) is even worsening. Over the weekend it was gushing 10 meters into the air," told a discussion on mining and ecology organized by the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam).
"Rather than spending more money to stop the flow, which has so far been useless, the government and the company should prepare a 'game over' scenario," said Andang, who is an oil and gas consultant for the Environment Ministry. "Leave the region sinking and compensate for the lost land, houses and businesses."
Andang, who is also a former chairman of the Indonesian Geologists Association, said Lapindo could then find ways to make the best use of the more than 30,000 tons of mud that spew out of the earth every day.
"I suggest a move to prevent the company from going bankrupt. What if the mud keeps flowing for another year or two? Will the company still have the money to keep compensating people's losses?" he said.
The sludge has inundated about 210 hectares of land, forcing more than 6,000 people to flee and shutting several nearby factories. Hundreds of people have lost their jobs and dozens have been admitted to hospitals with respiratory problems.
Environmentalists believe the hot mud contains elements that are threatening to human health. However, the government has yet to publish its analysis of the mud's chemical contents.
Lapindo Brantas Inc. is partly owned by the family of Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie.
Andang said similar mudflows could be found throughout Java and Bali, most of them still spewing liquid sediment. "Some of them are centuries old and are still flowing," he said. There is a mudflow in Kuwu, Central Java. Geologists also say Mount Anyar in East Java is made of mud that spewed out of the earth centuries ago.
Meanwhile, Greenomics Indonesia executive director Elfian Effendi said Lapindo could go bankrupt if it is held responsible for the losses caused by what he termed the company's "flawed" operations. "According to our economic calculations, Lapindo should prepare Rp 33.27 trillion (US$3.66 billion) in compensation funds," he told the audience at the discussion.
He said that amount was based on various costs ranging from restoring the affected land, managing social impacts, removing the mud, cleansing the area, repairing ecological damage, and compensating businesses for their losses.