Indominco?s Ammonium Nitrate spills into Mahakam River
Saturday, November 3 2001 - 02:40 AM WIB
Around 497.2 tons of Ammonium Nitrate (NH4NO3) belonging to coal mining firm PT Indominco spilled into the Mahakam River in East Kalimantan on Thursday causing panic among households fearing that their water supply might have been polluted by the toxic material, the Kompas daily reported Saturday.
The chemical material, imported by Indominco from Australia, spilled into the river when it was being transferred from the carrying vessel at the Samarinda Port.
The paper said that by Friday, the nitrate content in the river had returned to normal level of around 10 ppm (parts per million).
The paper added that the company which transported the chemical material had not obtain the necessary permit to implement loading and unloading activity at the Samarinda Port.(*)