Mercury at W Sumatra traditional gold mines at critical level

Mercury pollution at traditional gold mine areas in Tanjung Bungo, Bonjol district, West Sumatera has reached an alarming level due to a continued increase in the use of the substance in gold processing in the area, Kompas reported on Friday.

Darman Diri, the head of the provincial office of the Environmental Impact Supervisory Agency (Bapedal) said in Padang on Thursday that the use of mercury in the gold processing activities by the local residents had threatened the environment.

He said that the mercury level in the traditional gold mining area in the district had far exceeded the tolerable level. "The mercury pollution in the area has even reached a critical level, similar to that in Minamata, Japan," he said in a reference to the heavily polluted Japanese bay.

He said that the Tanjung Bungo was the only area which was heavily polluted by mercury.

Bapedal has recently conducted a survey in three traditional gold mining areas in West Sumatera. They included Tanjung Bungo, Talang Babungo village in Lambah Gimanti district and in Batang Palangky in the Tanjung Udani village

Darman said that the agency found no serious mercury pollution in Talang Babungoi and Limbah Gimanti but the uncontrollable mining activities has caused a serious damage to the environment. (*)