[Kabar-indonesia] 3 Mudflow Disaster Reports: 8,000 Displaced; Water Undrinkable [+SMH]

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

also: Thousands displaced by noxious mud in Indonesia; and 
Ground water in Sidoarjo mudflow area declared undrinkable

Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday, July 8, 2006

Javanese gas disaster hits home at Santos

by Mark Forbes Herald Correspondent in Jakarta

photo: Trouble spot … vapour rises from hot, toxic mud around the
leaking well in East Java. The damages bill is close to $300 million.
AFP

A TOXIC mudflow in Indonesia is threatening to become a public
relations disaster for Australian oil and gas group Santos.

Indonesian police indicate they will recommend criminal charges
against the gas drilling operators of an East Java well, part of a
project that is 18 per cent owned by Santos. The well, 38 kilometres
south of the regional capital, Surabaya, started leaking on May 27 and
continues to spew poisonous mud across the district.

So far the mudflow has caused two fatalities and hospitalised nearly
1000 people, displaced 5000 villagers and cut the major highway and
railway links to Surabaya.

The estimated compensation bill is already close to $300 million.

At first the operator, an Indonesian company called Lapindo Brantas,
blamed the Yogyakarta earthquake for the mishap but police have found
negligence was the cause.

A metal casing required to prevent leaks was not properly in place,
police believe.

Six employees of the operator were named as suspects this week.

"Their negligent act caused damage or devastation that led to material
and non-material losses," East Java police detective chief Amhar Azeth
said.

The investigation was continuing and more senior executives could be
charged, he said.

A spokesman for Santos on Friday said the company was awaiting the
report of an official inquiry.

Asked if Santos could be liable for some of the costs, he said: "We
maintain appropriate insurance coverage for these types of incidents.
We are working on this to the extent we can as an 18 per cent minority
shareholder."

Asked if the incident could affect Santos's extensive mining program
in Indonesia, he said: "We have an excellent relationship with
Indonesian authorities and we are confident that will be maintained."

Santos was aware of media reports of likely charges against the well
operator but had not been informed officially, he said.

No Santos staff are likely to be charged.

Although efforts are underway to plug the leak, it could continue for
months and cause more damage, sources said.

The Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has called for
those responsible to be brought to account.

The disaster has political ramifications. Family companies of cabinet
minister Aburizal Bakrie hold a controlling interest in both the well
and its operator.

The well is majority owned by the Brantas PSC joint venture and
operated by the venture's major partner, Lapindo Brantas.

Lapindo put up half the capital to exploit the Brantas block. Medco
Energi Oil & Gas and Santos contributed 32 per cent and 18 per cent
respectively.

After first blaming the earthquake, Lapindo had to backtrack after the
leaking of a letter accusing management of negligence for failing to
install adequate casing.

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Thousands displaced by noxious mud in Indonesia

SIDOARJO, Indonesia, July 7 (Reuters) - Noxious mud oozing from around
an oil well since late May has driven about 8,000 people from their
homes in Indonesia's East Java province and left hundreds gasping for
breath or vomiting, according to local officials.

"Factories, houses, fields, freeways have been drowned by the mud
which is spread over more then 200 ha (494 acres)," Win Hendrarso,
head of Sidoarjo regency, an area near the city of Surabaya where the
well is located, told reporters late on Thursday.

In addition to forcing people out of their homes, the thick black
sludge giving off sulphurous fumes has left hundreds of people
complaining of breathlessness and vomiting, said one hospital
official.

"Until this day, we are still taking care of hospitalised patients.
Most of them suffer from respiratory obstruction," said Amir Basuki,
another hospital official in Surabaya.

The case is the latest in a series of environmental traumas linked to
energy and mining companies operating in the resource-rich country,
which has been criticised for haphazard enforcement of operating
guidelines.

Authorities have been struggling to plug the mud flow that emerged
from cracks in the ground around the Banjar Panji-1 exploration well,
which is operated by Indonesia's Lapindo Brantas, which has a 50
percent share.

Lapindo is a subsidiary of PT Energi Mega Persada, partly owned by the
Bakrie Group, controlled by the family of Indonesia's chief social
welfare minister, Aburizal Bakrie.

Australia's Santos Ltd., which said last week it was insured against
the problem, also has an 18 percent interest.

Indonesia's largest listed energy firm, PT Medco Energi International
Tbk, holds the remaining 32 percent.

An oil industry watchdog official said a government team was
investigating the incident, noting that the mud flow that began at the
end of May could have been triggered by a crack in the oil well at a
depth of around 6,000 feet (1,800 metres).

Imam Agustino, general manager of Lapindo Brantas, said previously the
firm planned to inject heavy mud and cement into the existing well or
into a new well in a bid to stop the flow.

Media reports said the company had brought in outside experts to help
plug the flow of mud, which has a high fluoride content and is laced
with sulphur, but there was no clear timetable.

Nirwan D. Bakrie, the chief executive of Lapindo, was quoted by the
Antara news agency as saying the firm would take responsibility and
follow the direction of the environment ministry. Officials at the
company could not immediately be contacted.

Hundreds of people have been forced to shelter in a market place
building after the 1.6 metre thick swathe of mud entered their homes,
with many forced to wade through sludge to try to rescue household
belongings.

Local government officials said they were trying to channel the mud
into the sea to help ease the problem that has affected four villages.

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Ground water in Sidoarjo mudflow area declared undrinkable

Sidoarjo, E Java, July 6 (ANTARA)- Two separate laboratory tests on
water from the soil around the source of the hot mudflow in Porong,
Sidoarjo, have shown the water to be undrinkable, the Sidoarjo
Environmental Council (DLS) said here Thursday.

Consumption of the water could cause various diseases including
cancer, mental retardation, skin and respiratory disorders, Nurul
Ahdi, the DLS secretary general, said.

Analyses conducted by the Jasa Tirta I Water Quality Laboratory of
Sidoarjo had shown that water on and in the ground surrounding the
Lapindo Brantas gas drilling well leak that had caused the ongoing hot
mudflow contained heavy metals like Copper (Cu), Sulfide (H2S) and
Phenol in proportions well above tolerable standards, she said.

Two tests, done on different dates, yielded more or less the same
results, she said.

The second analytical test was done on samples of water taken from a
river in Gempolsari village and a drain in Kedungbendo village.

Nurul called on the local people not to consume water from wells and
rivers near the location of the mudflow and to use masks especially
when handling objects that were touched by the mudflow.

"Water obtained from the ground surrounding the location of the
mudflow does not meet the class-III water quality standard as
stipulated in Government Regulation no. 82/2001 regarding the quality
of processed water and control of water pollution," she said.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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