Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has revoked the environmental permit of a controversial zinc-and-lead mine being developed in a, earthquake-prone zone on the island of Sumatra, in what activists say sets an important legal precedent for community-led environmental challenges nationwide.
The Ministry of Environment issued the revocation on May 21, following community protests and to comply with a Supreme Court ruling that ordered the rescinding of the permit, formally known as an environmental feasibility approval, or SKKLH.
Villagers living within the project's zone of influence have for years petitioned against the development of the mine. The central object of their criticism is the planned dam to hold mining waste, or tailings.
According to David Williams, director of the University of Queensland's Geotechnical Engineering Centre in Australia and a tailings dam expert, the site is among the most dangerous possible locations for a mine of this kind, with high rainfall, frequent earthquakes, unstable volcanic ash, and landslide risks.
Data from the news portal Volcano Discovery show a very high level of seismic activity in Dairi district, where the mine site is located, with about 40 earthquakes on average per year. In the past 30 days alone, Dairi has experienced 19 quakes of magnitudes 2 to 3.5.
"These site conditions represent worst-case scenarios in every respect," Williams wrote, warning that a dam failure poses deadly risks to downstream communities, and would poison waterways and destroy farmland.
Despite repeated warnings from experts, the environment ministry decided to approve the project's environmental assessment in August 2022, issuing the SKKLH permit that essentially greenlit the mine.
A group of 11 villagers mounted a legal challenge against the environmental approval in February 2023, arguing that the project threatened the safety of the people of Dairi.
In August 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that the mine's environmental permit must be revoked due to the high risk of the dam collapsing. But it took until May 21 this year for the environment ministry to formally comply with the ruling.
The revocation of the environmental permit means that project developer PT Dairi Prima Mineral (DPM) can't carry out any operational activities, according to the ministry's secretary-general, Rosa Vivien Ratnawati.
"This case sets an important legal precedent in terms of environmental protection and the community's right to a healthy environment," she told reporters in Jakarta on May 23 during the announcement of the revocation.
Environmental activists have welcomed the ruling, saying it not only strengthens citizen access to environmental justice, but also reinforces the point that environmental permits can be annulled through legal means.
Muhammad Jamil, the law and policy lead at the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam), a watchdog organization, called the case significant because it's the first SKKLH permit to be revoked. The permitting system was set up under a controversial 2020 law that deregulated a broad swath of industries and weakened or eradicated many environmental protections.
Under that so-called omnibus law, the environmental feasibility approval replaced the prevailing environmental permit, raising concerns that it couldn't be challenged in court like environmental permits.
"This decision clears up that confusion," Jamil told Mongabay. "It confirms that environmental approvals, which replaced environmental permits, are administrative decisions and can be challenged in the administrative court. So there's no debate anymore: these are legitimate legal objects that can be contested in court."
Judianto Simanjuntak, a lawyer representing the Dairi community, said the case should serve as a lesson for the environment ministry and other government agencies: "If you're going to issue a permit, do so carefully."
In the Dairi case, "the permit should never have been issued. It's a disaster-prone area and agricultural land. There should have been no permit from the start," Judianto told Mongabay.
Concerns remain
Despite the court ruling and the environment ministry's move to revoke DPM's permit, concerns remain that the company will not respect the decision.
Following the court order in August 2024, China's Nonferrous Metals Mining Group Co., Ltd., the mine's majority owner, said the project will go forward, backed by funding from a Chinese state-owned investment company.
China Nonferrous Metals Mining Group has been in the headlines recently due to a disastrous acid leak from a tailings dam at one of its mines in Zambia.
"While I am pleased to see the revocation, I still feel worried," said Darwin Situmorang from Bongkaras, a village in the mine project area. "The companies – DPM itself and the majority owner, China's NFC – have both previously said they want to continue with the mine. They may try again to get government approval – but people all down the valley from the proposed mine site oppose any mining."
DPM has also been allegedly collecting new evidence for use in an appeal against the Supreme Court's ruling, reportedly approaching the villagers who filed the lawsuit, according to Juniaty Aritonang, the director of BAKUMSU, a legal advocacy group representing the communities opposed to the mine project.
Juniaty said she had also heard from a lawmaker who visited Dairi that DPM was preparing a new environmental impact assessment for the mine project, with the process nearly completed.
Jamil of Jatam said residents had noticed field researchers surveying the area recently, further raising suspicions that DPM is preparing new assessment. If approved by the environment ministry, that assessment would pave the way for the issuance of a new environmental feasibility approval, thereby rendering moot the revocation of the old approval.
Such a move wouldn't be unprecedented. In the mountainous Kendeng region of Central Java province, a cement factory had its environmental permit revoked in the face of local opposition, only to be issued with a new one.
Local farmers took their case to court in 2014, arguing that the quarrying of limestone to feed the factory would destroy the region's unique karst ecosystem and disrupt water sources. In October 2016, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the farmers, annulling the environmental permit for the project.
Despite that decision, the government issued a new permit just months later, after only a slight revision of the environmental documentation.
Given the striking parallels with the Dairi case, Juniaty said she feared a repeat of the Kendeng case, with DPM's operations ultimately being allowed to proceed in spite of the top court's decision.
"This is like the Kendeng case. Even with a final and binding ruling, the decision wasn't enforced," she said.
What's next?
Rosa, the environment ministry's secretary-general, said the ministry hadn't received a new environmental feasibility application from DPM. But she added that if the mine developer can still apply for a new environmental impact analysis.
"If they want to start the process again, they must begin from scratch. The previous permit was annulled, so they can't rely on it," Rosa said. "Any new process must fully involve the community, and it must be demonstrated that the technology proposed is significantly improved."
Jamil said the environment ministry should outright reject any application from DPM for a permit, given that the court found the project to be too risky to proceed in a disaster-prone region like Dairi.
Besides sitting on an active fault line, the terrain is also caked in a thick deposit of unconsolidated volcanic ash, which is extremely unstable, he said.
When asked whether emerging technologies might address the risks, Jamil said he doubted there would be one in the foreseeable future.
"Honestly, I don't think there will be any new mining technology in the next 20 to 30 years. Mining hasn't changed much in decades – it's still dig and sell," he said. "We emphasize that the environment ministry has no legitimate grounds to issue a new permit, unless it wants to violate the law and undermine the social fabric of legal trust in this country."
Mine waste safety expert Steven Emerman, who has reviewed DPM's plans, warns the government to not trust the company if it submits new application.
"For many decades I have reviewed mine plans from around the world. Many companies intentionally ignore or downplay the risks to people and the environment," he said. "It is up to government regulators to see past that. From what I have seen of DPM plans, even if there were a new mine plan presented, with claims of low impact, I would not trust it."
Simply revoking the permit is not enough, lawyer Judianto said. The environment ministry must also ensure that DPM is no longer operating in the area to protect the residents there, he said.
Besides calling for the government to enforce the law, activists and affected community members are also calling on China to withdraw funding from the mine project. On May 23, community members delivered a petition to the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta, signed by 2,046 people from 15 villages that stand to be affected by the mine.
"We are the potentially impacted people and we are asking the Chinese government to stop funding this project," said Tioman Simangunsong, a resident of the town of Parongil. "If the proposed tailings dam leaks or collapses, which experts say is likely, we could be killed or our lands and water poisoned."
As villagers await the government's next move, the Dairi case now stands as a litmus test for whether Indonesia's environmental rulings are worth more than the paper they're printed on, Jamil said. If the government allows the Dairi mine project to proceed, it would be openly defying the law, he said.
"That would amount to an abuse of power or unlawful government action. Such actions would be a huge setback, especially now that the government says it wants to reform governance," Jamil said. "This is a new administration. We hope it doesn't repeat the same mistakes. Otherwise, this will leave a lasting stain on the country's environmental governance."