Jakarta – Experts recommended Wednesday that the mud gushing from a gas well in Sidoarjo, East Java, be dumped along the coast to form a mudland where mangrove trees and other plants could be cultivated.
Experts from the National Team for Sidoarjo Mudflow Management, which was formed on Sept. 8, have concluded that it would take 31 years before the mud would stop, considering there is an estimated 1.1 billion cubic meters of mud still below the surface and the constant rate of pressure from the earth.
The team is projecting that the mud would eventually cover 2,600 hectares of land. The mudflow is reportedly triggered by a gas well of Lapindo Brantas Inc. and has so far submerged four villages and forced 10,000 people to evacuate.
"The mud contains no toxic materials. The forming of a delta on the coast could then be used as a mangrove forest for fish ponds," said Said Jenie, chief of the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT). He said that the formation of a mud delta was the cheapest and most practical solution to tackle the disaster.
Experts estimate that the East Java coast near Porong district would gain 30 hectares of mud annually if the pressure remains constant. The national team has been pumping the mud from the disaster area into Porong River.
BPPT proposes two methods to form the delta mudland.
First, a closed depot, which uses a pool embankment to contain mud delivered through a channel, would be more effective during the dry season. Second, an open depot, which uses bamboo walls to trap mud delivered from Porong River, would be more suitable during the rainy season.
Scientists, who have postulated that the disaster was caused by the eruption of a mud volcano, predict that the hot mud originates from a 4.9 million years of volcanic rock deposits formed by high temperatures and pressure.
"The delta plan is actually returning the spewing mud back to its origin," Said said. He added that nonetheless, the idea would still need the appropriate environmental monitoring.
"This is only a recommendation. Many people have opposed our solution. The implementation of this project will have to wait for a green light from the House," Said said.
A geologist from the national team, Soffian Hadi, said that the characteristics of the hot mud and the ground below the sea in East Java were basically the same.
"Our observation shows that the Sidoarjo mud is heavier than normal mud found on the bottom of the Madura strait, so the mud will eventually sink below the seabed," Soffian said Tuesday. Soffian added that in the long run the dumping plan would not create turbid water.
The geologist from Surabaya told The Jakarta Post that the slufter of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, a disposal site for dredging sludge from the river, had used sludge to create an annex of land. "If they can do it safely with waste material, why can't we do it with a natural substance?"
The current "relief well" method, which aims to dig and install casing in three wells to a depth of 4,200 feet, is costly and would consume a lot of energy. There are no solid indicators as yet that the method would be successful. The drilling equipment used to seal the mudflow, which is located in Jatirejo village, costs US$90,000 a day to lease. "The focus for the disaster now should be on assisting the victims near the area," Soffian said.
The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) executive director, Chalid Muhammad, said that the government should not be hasty in its plan to create a mangrove forest out of mud.
"Access for fishermen would be difficult so their output could be hurt. The existence of vegetation and marine life in the sea could be threatened by the mudland," he told the Post. "Moreover, the leaching of metals from the mud, could be harmful to humans," Chalid said.