Newmont ignored mercury warnings: Expert

Mining company PT Newmont Minahasa Raya ignored repeated warnings about the environmental dangers of its tailings, The Jakarta Post newspaper reported in its Tuesday, citing a marine toxic expert as saying.

?We conducted research in 1994 when the company had just started its exploration. Our research showed the mercury level found in fish in Buyat Bay reached 0.02 parts per billion (ppb),? said Rizald Max Rompas from Sam Ratulangie State University in Manado, North Sulawesi.

The normal level in fish, according to Rizald, ranges between zero and 0.01 ppb.

Another study in 1998 ? two years after the company began its operations in Minahasa, North Sulawesi ? found the mercury levels in fish in Buyat Bay had increased to 0.1 ppb.

?We already warned the company and the local government about the contamination, but it is still in business,? said Rizald.

?It (the mercury level) is getting higher and higher. The impact will not be seen now but in the next 10 to 20 years, as the mercury transforms into methyl-mercury. It could possibly become like Minamata disease if nothing is done now,? the researcher warned.

However, Rizald said the symptoms exhibited by sick Buyat bay residents pointed to arsenic contamination rather than mercury contamination.

?Arsenic is more reactive to the skin,? he said.

Minamata disease is neurological disorder caused by methyl-mercury poisoning, the more hazardous form of mercury.

A number of non-governmental organizations have accused PT Newmont Minahasa Raya of contaminating Buyat Bay with mercury. The company disposes of its tailings in the bay.

The company has denied the allegations, saying that its tailings are free from hazardous waste.

Earlier in the day, the National Police announced they would continue their investigation into the Buyat Bay case until they determined the source of the contamination and the parties responsible for this contamination. (*)