Freeport to appeal court ruling, defends its environmental management

American mining giant Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold said on Wednesday it would appeal the South Jakarta District Court decision that concluded its subsidiary PT Freeport Indonesia (PT FI) had provided false information on its environmental management.

The chairman and CEO of the New Orleans-based company, James R. Moffet, maintained however that Freeport Indonesia had implement and would always implement a sound environmental management system at its cooper and gold operation in Irian Jaya.

?While the (court) ruling was delivered verbally and a written ruling will be forthcoming, PT FI nonetheless said that with all due respect to the court, it will appeal the decision to the extent it concludes Freeport Indonesia made any misleading statements.

?PT FI has provided and will always provide accurate information to the public and to the Government of Indonesia regarding all aspects of PT FI?s operations.

?PT FI?s Grasberg mining operations are located in one of the most remote and technically challenging areas of the world. To meet these challenges, we have incorporated into our operations environmental management systems supported by environmental program and resources that achieve the standard of practice for world-class mines,? Moffet, who is also president commissioner of Freeport Indonesia, said in a statement.

Moffet further said during the last five years, Freeport Indonesia had also commissioned two audits of its environmental programs by two separate internationally recognized environmental auditing firms that concluded that its operations were in compliance with all regulations of the Indonesian government.

The South Jakarta District Court ruled on Tuesday to accept the accusation made by the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) that Freeport Indonesia had provided misleading statements regarding the environmental management at its Wanagon tailing disposal site.

But, the court rejected the non-governmental organization?s (NGO) request for the company to make a public apology through mass media.

The court only asked the company to improve its environmental management system and never provide false information to the public any more.

Walhi filed the lawsuit against the company last year following an incident at the Wanagon tailing disposal site which took several lives.

Walhi accused the company of providing false and misleading information about the incident and its environmental management, citing several press releases issued by the company.

The Environmental Management Law No. 23/1997 stipulates that ?anyone that does business and/or activities is obliged to give true and accurate information about environmental management.? (Bodega)