Rob Taylor, Jakarta – The giant Freeport gold mine blamed for a slew of environmental and social catastrophes in Papua is causing far greater damage to the environment than previously thought, green activists claimed today.
A study of reports submitted to Indonesian authorities by the US owner of the world's biggest gold mine showed the company, Freeport-McMoRan, had significantly understated the potential risk to surrounding forests and rivers, they said.
The study, prepared by the Indonesian environment watchdog Walhi, said Freeport had violated regulations covering the disposal of rock waste. This had caused landslides and leakage of toxic wastes into the waters of Wanagon lake.
As well, a dam built to contain waste slurry from the huge mine, which stretches from Papua's glacier-capped highlands to the coast, was not strong enough and toxic acids were leaking.
Slurry containing heavy metal copper waste had been released into estuaries along the Ajkwa river at twice the legal limit, Walhi said, contaminating around 230 square kilometres of river lowlands with sediment.
Heavy metal-laden tailings were also entering the local food chain, contaminating up to 90 per cent of crabs, fish and shellfish living in the estuary and posing a risk to people living off food stocks found in the river. Thirty-five per cent of local species had disappeared, the watchdog said.
The report is the latest to accuse the Freeport mine, which generates up to 700,000 tons of waste tailings each day, of causing serious environmental destruction in the fragile province, where scientists recently discovered reserves of rare animals once thought extinct.
In March, hundreds of demonstrators rioted in the provincial capital Jayapura in protest at environmental damage caused by the mine. Mobs killed five members of the Indonesian security forces, triggering a crackdown by police and the military.
The riots prompted Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to order an investigation into the activities of the Freeport, which is the biggest sole contributor to his government's tax coffers.
Yudhoyono said he was also concerned by claims the multibillion-dollar profits from the mine were being skimmed. He promised to ensure Freeport's annual community development programs, estimated at 400 billion rupiah ($A57.5 million), were used properly.
But Yudhoyono also warned local people against turning their anger against Freeport into a de-facto campaign for Papuan independence.
Walhi said the mine should cease operations altogether until environmental problems were fixed and those responsible for violations were brought to justice. "The government must also sample (the mine) periodically and precisely instead of relying on company reports," the watchdog said.
Demonstrators and activist shareholders would raise the report's concerns at tomorrow's annual general meeting in Melbourne of miner Rio Tinto, which invested $US1.7 billion ($A2.24 billion) in Freeport in 1995 and which still claims a share of profits, a spokesman told AAP.
Several Papuan separatists recently given visas to stay in Australia, despite Indonesian government protests, would attend the meeting, he said.