Jakarta – The national team overseeing the East Java mudflow disaster is racing against time to reinforce a 7.2 kilometer embankment so that it doesn't collapse during the raining season.
The mud gushing from a well at PT Lapindo Brantas' natural gas exploration drilling site in Sidoarjo is increasing daily although some of it is now being drained into the nearby Porong River.
About 300 volunteers and 15 staff from the team, who monitor the site 24 hours a day, are working on the wall, which already holds about 90 percent of its capacity.
"We are using chemical 'X-88' to solidify and iron slag to cover the embankment. We began this work on Friday," team spokesman Rudy Novrianto said.
"We are racing against time. Our five pumps, two for mud and three for water, can only reallocate about three cubic meters of mud each second (about 160,000 cubic meters a day) compared to the 126,000 cubic meters of mud extrusion a day," Rudy said.
"We will have to increase our speed when the wet season comes," he said. The team will continually monitor the integrity of the dike until the wet season ended, he said.
The gushing mudflow, which has been blamed on Lapindo's botched oil and gas prospecting operation, has made about 12,000 people homeless.
Workers have also been dredging the Porong to ensure increased sedimentation from the mud did not cause it to flood other areas. "They are digging sand out of the river to anticipate it becoming shallower because of sedimentation," Rudy said.
Environmentalists have said dumping the mud into the river will only spread the disaster and destroy valuable fisheries when the mud reaches the sea.
They have called on the government to prosecute Lapindo – a company part-owned by the family of Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie – for negligence leading to the disaster.
A geologist and expert adviser to the national team, Soffian Hadi, believed the rain could have a positive effect on the ecological disaster.
"Rain can dilute the mud so it will be easier for the pumps to work. If the mud contains more water, then its load is thinner," Soffian told the Post. "It's a matter of balance between strong construction of the embankments and getting thinner mud to avoid further problems," he said.
However, when the rainy season reached its peak, the team would have to work hard to ensure the embankments did not collapse, he said. The team is currently testing a spill-way that could divert more mud into the Porong.